Brett Dennen is a proud Californian whose love of his home state echoes throughout his environmentally conscious folk-pop. Born in the Central Valley in 1979, Dennen cultivated his love of music and nature while spending his summers in the Sierra Nevada, where he soaked up not only the nature but also the folksy sounds of Van Morrison and Paul Simon. These influences would deeply inform his 2005 self-titled debut as well as its 2006 follow-up, So Much More, an album that placed him smack in the middle of a new generation of acoustic singer/songwriters emerging amid Jack Johnson’s trailblazing success. Subsequent releases have continued to emphasize Dennen’s honeyed voice and playfully intricate guitar picking while pushing into new terrain both emotionally and sonically. Whereas 2008’s Hope for the Hopeless could go down as the most psychically vulnerable album of his career, 2021’s See the World reveals a newfound commitment to the minutiae of pop songcraft. The record also doubles down on Dennen’s lifelong belief that music plays a starring role in addressing the great ecological issues of our time.