137: Will Johnson - Floodway Fall

In his new press photograph, Will Johnson sits on his porch, steely eyes looking into the camera, a grey and bright day reflected in the window, winter creeping forward through the stark, empty branches that surrounds him.

It's an apt setting because it epitomises the music he's made for more than two decades now, a collection of albums rooted in dusty, dusky Americana, alongside collaborations with Jason Molina, Jay Farrar, and as part of Jason Isbell's 400 Unit - company to clarify the richness of craft.

An esteemed, naturally compelling songwriter, Johnson has also now announced a brand new album, his second in less than two years, once again to be released via the excellent Keeled Scales label. Formed of nine new recordings, Diamond City is released in the first week of April and was made with producer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist Britton Beisenherz who adds a Casio, Wurlitzer, ARP, zither, and more decoration to these songs.

Opening track and first single, 'Floodway Fall' is quintessential Johnson, all sparse-but-rich instrumentation imbued with a world-weary voice, a wintry hymn sung into solitudinal skies. Embossed with strange and peculiar vocals that bubble away in the background like a chorus of detuned radios, voices carried in on a nightly wind, it's a piece of music that is at once both cryptic and beautifully engaging; a masterful song from a master of song.

Pre-order the album now, via Bandcamp

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