Johanna Samuels – “Bystander” (Released 21st July 2023)

Description

//Jealous Butcher Records//

£22.99 – 1xLP, Limited Edition Orange Coloured Vinyl

A sonic template that ranges from the soaring and orchestral to the understated and confessional; at turns free-wheeling and filled with swagger, then sincere and precise, with each subtle movement serving to highlight Samuels’ lyrical journeys.

The first witnesses to Samuels’ new beginnings fittingly became part of the sound of the album – during her darkest moments, while writing in isolation, her old friends in the band bonny light horseman offered to take her out on tour in early 2020. “they re-contextualized music for me all over again,” she says. observing a truly kind and compassionate music community brought Samuels out of herself even more. Inspired by conversations with producer Josh Kaufman (the Hold Steady, Bob Weir, Cassandra Jenkins) on the road, Samuels took him up on his offer to produce her new songs and retreated to Isokon Studios in Woodstock, NY in the summer of 2021. They made the album as a duo, with Matt Barick (the Walkmen, Fleet Foxes) contributing drums on the entirety of the record.

Tracklisting:

1. Ugly on the inside
2. Golden gate
3. Holy mothers
4. The rest of us
5. Phil Spector is dead
6. Valentine’s Day is stupid
7. Little buckets
8. Any good
9. Song for molly parden (Happy Birthday darling)
10. Tampa
11. Inside girl