Scott Fisher is a Portland, Oregon-born, Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist with a career spanning over two decades. His musical foundation began with classical piano studies under exiled German concert pianist Ilse Glassel, an influence that shaped the keyboard-heavy early part of his catalog, which moved through piano pop, classical piano, and bossa nova before expanding into broader territory. Growing up with a French mother and an American father gave Fisher a cross-cultural perspective that has always informed his work.
Over the years he has opened for Brandi Carlile, Augustana, and Pink Martini, and his music has found its way into television series including Shameless, Parks and Recreation, Better Call Saul, Raising Hope, Gossip Girl, and The Good Doctor. Billion Suns, released May 22, 2026 on 1 A.M. Music, is his seventh studio album and was recorded at the legendary East West Studios in Los Angeles. It features Tim Lefebvre, known for his work with David Bowie, Sting, and The Black Crowes, on bass, and Joey Waronker, whose credits include Thom Yorke, Beck, Oasis, and Roger Waters, on drums. It is a record with a serious pedigree behind it.
Track by Track
1. A Billion Suns
The title track and lead single opens the album with r&b influenced effects and Fisher’s smooth, buttery vocal delivery working in natural harmony. Lyrically it explores loss, time, and emotional endurance, specifically the experience of watching someone deeply important to you gradually fade away. Fisher has described the theme as coming to grips with losing one of the most influential people in your life. The production layers dreamy piano and string textures over Lefebvre’s gritty, melodic bass lines, creating something that feels simultaneously intimate and expansive. It is the most indie-rock forward track on the record and sets a high bar for everything that follows.
2. La Maldonne
The French title, which loosely translates to a bad deal or a misdeal, fits naturally into the album’s themes of grief and the things in life that do not go the way you planned. The mood here is reflective without being resigned, and Fisher’s vocal delivery carries the emotional weight of the title without ever overplaying it. It is a quietly affecting piece that benefits from the understated elegance Lefebvre and Waronker bring to the rhythm section throughout the record.
3. Dangerous Game
The second single is a bold, soulful anthem that takes on life’s chaos, fragility, and unpredictability head on. The message is direct: confront your fears, take risks, and refuse to be paralyzed by the uncertainties of existence. Fisher’s vocals take center stage here, delivering the track’s existential themes with warmth and real conviction. The production draws on Motown and R&B traditions, blending those influences with Fisher’s signature indie sensibility to create one of the most physically engaging tracks on the album. It is the kind of song that feels both timely and timeless.
4. Here in This City
A track that feels rooted in place and time in a way that suits Fisher’s Los Angeles perspective well. The urban setting implied by the title gives the song a slightly different texture from the more inward-looking pieces around it, and the production opens up accordingly, leaning into the soul and groove influences that run throughout the album. It is one of the warmer moments on the record.
5. Scars
Given the album’s preoccupation with loss and the people who leave permanent marks on your life, this one feels like a natural emotional centerpiece, even with it being a little more upbeat. The title suggests something carried rather than hidden, and the track has that quality throughout, a willingness to sit with pain rather than resolve it too quickly. Fisher’s vocals are at their most measured here, and the jazz-influenced guitar work that defines the album is particularly present.
6. The Great Unknown
One of the pre-release singles, this track leans into the introspective, emotionally grounded quality that runs throughout the album. The groove-filled soul production that critics have highlighted across the record is particularly present here, with Lefebvre’s bass and Waronker’s drumming giving the track a locked-in, almost meditative feel. Fisher’s vocal phrasing is unhurried and deliberate, which suits the subject matter well.
7. Try so Hard
There is a universal frustration in that title that anyone who has ever loved someone through difficulty will recognize immediately. The track fits squarely into the album’s soul and R&B influences, with a groove that feels lived-in and a vocal performance that sounds like Fisher is drawing from something real. It is one of the more emotionally direct moments in the back half of the record.
8. Blame It on the Rain
The title carries a classic soul and blues tradition behind it, and the track leans into that lineage comfortably. There is something almost cathartic about a song built around deflection and the search for something external to explain internal pain, and Fisher navigates that tension well. Waronker’s drumming gives the track a steady, grounding and soulful pulse that keeps the emotion from tipping into sentimentality. Absolutely stunning performance.
9. Up and Away
The closer is all about release, and that is exactly the feeling it delivers. After an album that has spent most of its runtime sitting with grief, loss, and emotional complexity, this one feels like the exhale at the end of it all. The production is spacious, soulful and unhurried, giving Fisher’s vocals room to carry the track home without the urgency that drives some of the earlier material. It is a fitting and graceful way to end the record.
Final Thoughts
Billion Suns is the kind of album that reminds you what a great rhythm section can do for a songwriter’s vision. Tim Lefebvre and Joey Waronker are two of the most in-demand musicians working today, and their presence throughout gives the record a depth and feel that is hard to manufacture. Fisher’s songwriting has always been rooted in emotional honesty, and this album finds him working in the richest sonic environment of his career. Nine tracks of jazz, soul, indie rock, and genuine feeling, all recorded with the kind of care and craft that makes the difference between a good album and a great one. This one lands firmly in the latter category.
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