LI Sound: Jeff LeBlanc continues his musical experiments

Jeff LeBlanc continues his experiments in pop with his new single “It’s About Us” (Jeff LeBlanc Music), a bit more soulful than usual musically and a bit deeper lyrically.

The Center Moriches singer-songwriter says he played the song at a magazine launch party in the Hamptons recently and the reaction was that he was writing about the current political atmosphere. Someone suggested he send the song to Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg for the South Bend, Indiana, mayor to use as his theme song.

Of course, “It’s About Us” could also easily be seen as a straightforward love song, as he sings, “It’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s about together what we can do.”

LeBlanc won’t say which is the right interpretation. “I rarely put my hand into the political world when it comes to writing songs,” he says. “But I like songs that people can interpret in different ways… It’s kind of a hook that can bounce both ways.”

LeBlanc says he also wanted the music to work in different styles. “Sometimes I obsess over how I'm going to produce something,” he says. “With this, it all just kind of developed. We got into the studio and just started playing it and the bass player, drummer and keyboard player all played live together… But then we put some of the tripped-out organ stuff on as my little James Bay homage. There's some little flutterings of modern pop next to a tighter, vintage rhythm section.”

LeBlanc says he will continue focusing on singles rather than working on a new album. And he hopes to hit the road as an opening act this summer, as he has on recent tours with Boz Scaggs and Chris Isaak. “I want to get my music out in front of more people,” he says. “And those gigs are just so good — you're always playing in a really great venue to a big crowd of people that are music lovers.”

However, he knows he will also want to balance that with his own headlining tour in smaller clubs. “Those places where there’s gum on the floor, I think, ‘These are my people. This is where I loved to play,’” he says. “It's fun to go back to that. I think you play with a little more energy because you’ve got to keep the attention of people standing with alcohol in their hand. You have to give it a little more gusto.”