Youth, as they say, is wasted on the young. Christofer Drew kindly refutes that conceit.

At the ripe age of 24, Drew and his band Never Shout Never are on the cusp of releasing their seventh full-length album and a pair of EP's. A songwriter to be reckoned with since he was 16, Drew's trajectory as a lyricist and tunesmith only rises, evolving steadily with each new release, as does his empire of fans. Tackling heavy subjects like truth, love, loss, and acceptance, he has developed a genuine talent for exploring the human condition from a place of positivity. And with the 10 crack cuts collected here on Black Cat, it's not a stretch to label Drew a master of his craft, despite the fact that he still can't legally rent a car.

The concept of the black cat is akin to that of the black sheep, a role Drew embodied as a creative youth with wild hair and tattoos coming of age both in tiny Joplin, Missouri, and then around the world with Never Shout Never. But here, the black cat learns to accept its differences and embrace its unique place in the universe, and thrives.

"Growing up I was always different from everybody else, I had a hard time fitting into one group of people and was always scattered around, always moving," says Drew. "And growing up with this band, I've always felt like a total outsider, not knowing where exactly I fit into the scheme of the music scene. The positive spin I've learned on it all is being cool with that, and accepting it, and loving being different. That's what I want people to take away from this album, because that's where I'm at personally; accepting and loving myself and growing through that love."

Drew began writing these songs in 2013, and brought an arsenal of tunes with him to the studio in 2014. Working over several months with producer Dennis Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse, The Hives, etc.) and the band in Los Angeles, two things happened that were Never Shout firsts: Drew welcomed both the band and Herring to write with him, and he embraced a preproduction process which helped them to shape and mold the songs before recording. Both practices proved inspirational and vital to the full, epic sound of Black Cat.