johnny was here shares visuals for the vibrant, high-octane yet melancholic new single ‘silverlake’. We’re very excited to be running the premiere!
High energy, organic and boxy with a instrumental arrangement reminiscent of early tracks form The Stokes, ‘silverlake’ open with choppy strummed electric guitar recorded un-amped before bursting into a boxy full band sound. Johnny’s husky, effortlessly charasmatic vocals soon enter, first introducing the ear-worm vocal lines as the tracks energy gradually picks up tempo with strummed acoustics enter.
Growing towards the chorus with a Dave Grohl/ Foo Fighters-esque vocal melody, the track dips into it’s spacious chorus as the lyricism becomes more directly melancholic, longing to go back to the honeymoon phase of a relationship, contrasting the high energy with an emotional sincerity. Bursting into an alt-rock middle 8 in the later section, the track captures a messy, frenzic sense of explosive and cathartic musical expression with tight fuzzy guitar riffs atop the wall of distorted chords and punching drums, and my god it’s fun!
Accompanied with a lo-fi, horizontal, yet fittingly cool and edgy video, the track is given a visual muse to match the tracks carefree sonic tone.
Speaking about the track Johnny says “Silverlake is the first single off my newest project, johnny was here. I was in a band for 13 years. We signed to a major label, and toured all over the US, but we broke up in LA, and this song is me romanticising that, and going back to that time when we first moved to LA, and ran around silverlake, just playing shows, and even though we were toxic by that point, I’d do it all again. After focusing on a more singer songwriter, solo project, and writing songs for other artists, it’s my first time back in the alternative rock world, since playing in my band.”
Watch below:
