JOHANNA SAMUELS debuts new single "The Rest of Us"

JOHANNA SAMUELS DEBUTS HEARTFELT NEW SINGLE/VIDEO

“THE REST OF US” VIA FLOOD MAGAZINE

NEW ALBUM BYSTANDER OUT THIS FRIDAY

(JEALOUS BUTCHER RECORDS)

Record Release Shows at LA’s Zebulon on July 8th

and NYC’s Union Pool on July 22nd

LA-based Johanna Samuels today shared “The Rest Of Us,” the sweetly swooning final single off her new album Bystander, due out this Friday via Jealous Butcher Records. Its heartwarming video, premiering via FLOOD Magazine, is a compilation of footage Johanna collected over extensive touring/traveling in ’21 & ’22: “There are a lot of glimpses of the making of ‘Bystander’ and people that I love deeply,” she says – including Bonny Light Horseman’s Eric D. Johnston and Josh Kaufman, the latter of which produced Bystander. “It ends with footage from a night I spent with two of my best friends, Brittany and Rebecca. We had tickets to see Wilco in Queens, NY and it was completely rained out. People were rushing out and bailing and we decided to just lean in. We were completely soaked, we got overpriced margaritas, sang every word, laughed and cried. After the show they walked ahead of me. I watched them march out of the stadium in the rain and wanted to never forget the image of their sweet, little feet walking together in the puddles.”

Johanna writes with a compelling literary flair across Bystander, giving listeners a distinct sense of setting and character at all times. “The Rest Of Us”—which somehow manages to be both heartbreaking and uplifting at once—is a great showcase of this, as she sings of her mother, Julie, her mother’s late college best friend, Roni, and her own college best friend, Rebecca. Among these personal messages, Johanna reminds us of our humanity and connectedness as she repeats: “There is nothing wrong with you / That isn’t wrong with the rest of us, too.” “I had been reflecting on time and how it prisms in long relationships,” she explains of the track’s songwriting process. “I cherish my longest friendships because no matter how much it’s possible to lose myself in different periods of life, the ones who truly know me have an increasing capacity to remind me who I am. A new definition of chosen family really revealed itself to me during the writing of this album.”

“The Rest Of Us” follows previous singles “Golden Gate,” “Holy Mothers” (feat. Madison Cunningham) and “Ugly On The Inside,” which earned support from Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, Buzzbands.la, Northern Transmissions, and more. See below for a full itinerary of upcoming record release shows, including LA’s Zebulon on July 8th and NYC’s Union Pool on July 22nd. Bystander is available for pre-order here.

Emerging from the ruins of a dark personal time and a toxic relationship, Samuels sends a dispatch from the tender moments of a new beginning on Bystander. Treating listeners like trusted confidantes, we get to hear where she’s been and what she’s seen—and, most importantly, where she wants to go from here. While writing the 11 songs that would comprise her new album, Samuels didn’t even know if they would ever be heard. This left her feeling free to create a world that was just for her.

Produced by Kaufman and featuring drums from Matt Barick (The Walkmen, Fleet Foxes), the album’s sonic template ranges from the soaring and orchestral to the understated and confessional; at turns free-wheeling and filled with swagger, then sincere and precise—each subtle movement complementing the album’s deeply felt stories.