Tobin Sprout looks back with his new song, “When I Was A Boy”

It’s been seven years since Tobin Sprout last released a solo album, due at least partially to him getting back together with his old band Guided By Voices before it once again disbanded in 2014. Now, on January 27, Sprout’s sixth solo album The Universe And Me will be released by Burger Records. Today, The A.V. Club is streaming “When I Was A Boy,” a song that sees Sprout take to the piano and offer up a Beatles-esque piece that reflects on his earliest days. It’s a simple pop song that feels like could have been put to use by his old band, but Sprout shows he’s just as strong when working on his own. Of the song Sprout says, “It’s about things I learned or came to believed as a child, self-reliance, independence, faith, art. Things that I still carry with me today, It’s where I found grounding. Looking out as a child to what I wanted to be, and looking back and seeing that they are the same.”