As Robert Ellis prepares to release a new album this spring, the Texas singer has shared a new song called "Gene."

The tender, diary-like track arrived Wednesday, and according to Ellis, it's more of a letter to his son, a reflection of adulthood and thoughts about a flawed and broken world while nodding to the beauty and promise in our shared humanity.

"I wrote this song for my oldest son, or rather to him," says Ellis of the new song. "The whole tune spilled out early one morning in a sort of half awake stream of consciousness. When I was a kid, it felt like the adults had a lot of answers to a lot of things. Becoming a grown-up was pretty disorienting. I don't really feel like I have things (anything) figured out like I thought I would. I'm anxious, I'm scared. I guess I just want my kids to know that sometimes 'I don't know' is OK. I don't have all the answers, but I'm here for you, and I love you."

As we previously mentioned, Ellis is releasing his new album Yesterday's News on May 19 on Niles City Records. And while his last record was a big spectacle, this one is more intimate and reflective of the longtime Variance favorite's embrace of life's latest chapter, with his partner Erica Silverman and two kids.

Hear "Gene" now below.