I don't *think* we've had a general thread on this, but correct me if I'm wrong. Scattered things like this:
Come anticipate the "motivational business music" album from ousted Groupon CEO Andrew Mason
But let's go deeper into the realm of Jim Irsay/James Dolan trash because ohhhh boy did a new example emerge today. I give you FORMER ACTIVISION CEO ROCK! As sent by a PR person to my inbox, to my general astonishment -- and be sure to check the tracklisting madness at the end because Christ almighty.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iifQlrRXMpA
Eric Hirshberg Invites Listeners to Come Back From “The Grand Elsewhere” on New Single and Video
The latest taste of forthcoming album More Is Not The Answer is a call to step away from distraction and return to the present moment
More Is Not The Answer arrives September 21st, 2026
Singer-songwriter Eric Hirshberg returns today with “The Grand Elsewhere,” the latest single and video from his forthcoming album More Is Not The Answer, out September 21st. The song takes its title from Hirshberg’s term for the constant state of semi-distraction so many of us now inhabit: physically present, but mentally somewhere else, pulled away by the endless people, places, possibilities, and provocations waiting inside our phones.
The idea is there from the opening lyric: “I’m here alone / But I’m also with everyone I’ve ever known / And everything I’d like to own…”
Beginning with spacious, reflective verses before opening into a sweeping chorus, “The Grand Elsewhere” is a call to come back to the here and now: to lift our heads, re-engage with the people in front of us, and reclaim some of the attention we’ve gradually surrendered.
"We all now seem to be at least part-time residents of The Grand Elsewhere," Hirshberg says. "It's a place of endless distractions, attractions and provocations, all of which take us out of the present moment, away from each other and, of course, away from ourselves. I don't know about you, but I don't want to live there anymore."
Rather than condemning technology or longing for a simpler past, "The Grand Elsewhere" asks a quieter question: what are we missing while our attention is somewhere else?
It is a song about looking up. About putting the phone down. About noticing the person across the table, the world outside the window, the conversation unfolding in front of us, and the version of ourselves that only exists when we are fully present.
"The Grand Elsewhere" continues the central conversation running throughout More Is Not The Answer, an album that explores where human attention goes and what happens when people intentionally reclaim it. Across the record, Hirshberg examines algorithms, anxiety, gratitude, family, optimism, and the quiet choices that shape a meaningful life.
The singles released so far have gradually illuminated different facets of that idea. "For Real," Hirshberg's collaboration with Aloe Blacc, called for empathy and genuine conversation in divided times, marking Hirshberg's national television performance debut on Live with Kelly and Mark, where Kelly Ripa praised the song on-air as "an anthem." The release also inspired a feature in American Songwriter, highlighting both Hirshberg and Blacc's creative partnership and the larger themes emerging across the project.
"We're All In This Alone" examined the invisible influence of algorithms and the paradox of hyper-connected isolation. The title track, "More Is Not The Answer," reflected on what truly matters after the Los Angeles wildfires forced people to decide what they could carry with them. "Less Important Things" explored the bittersweet transition into the empty nest, while "What's Not Wrong" argued that gratitude itself is an intentional act of attention.
Together, those songs have revealed an album centered on one essential question: where does our attention go, and is that where we want our lives to be?
"The Grand Elsewhere" may be the project's most immediately relatable expression of that idea yet. Who among us hasn’t walked into a crowded restaurant and observed almost everyone in it head down on their phone? “When I look up and look around / every head is hanging down / Lost in The Grand Elsewhere.” But the song does not simply lament that reality, it offers an invitation and a way back - toward presence, toward one another, and toward the ordinary moments that quietly become the most important ones.
Before turning publicly toward music, Hirshberg spent nearly a decade as CEO of Activision, overseeing global entertainment franchises including Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Skylanders, and Destiny. Earlier, he served as CEO and Chief Creative Officer of Deutsch LA, where he helped shape some of the world's most recognizable brands. That experience continues to inform his songwriting, offering the perspective of someone who spent years at the center of the modern attention economy and came away convinced that what deserves our attention is often very different from what competes for it.
More Is Not The Answer will be released September 21st. "The Grand Elsewhere" is available now on all streaming platforms, with the official music video streaming on YouTube.
More Is Not The Answer by Eric Hirshberg
1. For Real
2. We're All In This Alone
3. More Is Not The Answer
4. Less Important Things
5. What's Not Wrong
6. The Grand Elsewhere
7. What a Wonderful, Horrible, Beautiful, Torturous World
8. Machine Against The Rage
9. Planes and 17 Stars
10. Ignore The Rest
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 21 August 2026 18:04 (three weeks ago)