Johanna Samuels
★★★★ Excelsior! BASIN ROCK. CD/DL/LP
Debut from East and West Coaster, who’s named after a Dylan song. CHRISTENED after Bob Dylan’s Visions Of Johanna, Johanna Samuels was born in New York, grew up in Los Angeles, returned home as an 18-year-old, before settling down in LA a decade later. Recorded (inevitably) in upstate New York, Excelsior! heralds a subtle talent, akin to Hannah Cohen and Courtney Marie Andrews, both of whom guest on backing vocals. Samuels treads softly with the insistent but understated melodies of Song For Sid and the humming, Weyes Blood-like Sonny. However, on the stand-out The Middle (yes, it’s in the middle of the album), Less Of You and Cathy, Samuels packs an emotional punch. Lyrically she’s as ruminative as the
XO-era Elliott Smith, but when she declares, “You come around to kiss my ass, but I don’t need more work to do,” on High Tide For
One, she’s clearly not to be under-estimated.
John Aizlewood