An unstoppable song-writer with talent and grace, S.F. Johnson spent most of his 20s writing for Modern Pleasure, before the Newcastle-Upon-Tyne born artist moved to Tokyo in late 2018. After a few years of perfecting his craft, creating his own blend of ‘Motel Pop’, Johnson returned to the UK in 2022. Now a part of the vibrant London music scene, he found time to develop his first full-length album, a project that promised to challenge those of us unsatisfied with the mundane.
Now, in 2023, S.F. Johnson releases ‘Digital Utopia’, his debut album, building on the sounds we heard in the ‘Songs from and Empty Orchestra’ EP, expanding them into new introspective spaces with hazy attitudes and shimmering soundscapes. Across the project we are blessed with the sounds of decades gone by. Synths glitter with reverberant chords, electric guitars are drenched in effects as the slide through bouncy melodies and groovy riffs, we are even treated to the occasional reverb-drenched saxophone that flies into the stratosphere.
Despite the distinctly retro instruments, Johnson brings in an extra dazzle and deals with themes that bring him into the 21st century. Love, family, existentialism and childhood are present throughout, each one getting a bittersweet optimism in Johnson’s writing. There is a sense in the album that it contains a piece of S.F. Johnson, as if you are an observer into his mind and process at the time of writing, this connects you to the project, helping you to reflect on your own life a soundtrack for the day to day.
In the track ‘Blood Bath’, the artist is gritty and relatable, Johnson adding, “Blood Bath is a reflection on my childhood, and growing up as a teenager in Gateshead. It recites certain moments for me as a kid, things I didn't fully understand when I was young, yet effected me later in life. It's me looking back on childhood, trying to make sense of what happened, and the ways I reacted to what was happening around me at the time.”
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