Dean Johnson :: I Hope We Can Still Be Friends
Following up on his classic debut album from 2023, “Nothing For Me, Please,” Seattle, Washington-based singer-songwriter Dean Johnson remained dormant before releasing any music into the world. It’s not often that musicians start their careers later in life. On the other hand, cult legends like F.J. McMahon, Allan Wachs, and Robert Lester Folsom, to name a few, receive this radical response half a century later, which begs the question: better late than never. Having spent several years tending Al’s Tavern in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood, while the local community’s intense interest in the aspiring musician grew into this electrifying Edgeworthia, whose budding blossoms suffocate the senses with a spiritual scent like no other, Johnson broke out with songwriting sophistication and hasn’t looked back. His style and approach to his craft are culturally critical and hold a special place in contemporary songwriting, while simultaneously highlighting the fact that it’s never too late to start something. Returning to the lyrical lab for his sophomore album, “I Hope We Can Still Be Friends,” the songwriter softly swings that old familiar melody across the harmonious horizon before its captivating chorus settles somewhere deep in the Pacific Northwest among the Douglas fir and Western hemlock. While engaging with the local lore that carefully balances melody and mystery, Johnson called on a handful of people to bring his latest effort to life, such as Sera Cahoone, Abbey Blackwell, Jon Hyde, and several others whose poetic participation brings an eager amount of excitement to the songwriter’s already captivating climate of storytelling sincerity.
Photos: Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times
“I Hope We Can Still Be Friends” balances on the edge of rare romance, and a caffeinated afternoon in a close friend’s living room, where the conversation flows, and the turntable softly plays Dylan’s “Infelds” in the background, a locally crafted candle burns all the way down to the base of the wick. Across the album’s 11 tracks of blissed-out prose and polished perfection, Johnson takes his listeners through a carefully confessed consciousness where love and memory linger like a seasonal smoke nestled above the treetops, just moments before dissipating into the darkness of the distant past. Like waking up from a meditative morning on a camping trip, coffee percolating on the tiny propane stove, bacon crackling on the leftover fire, and nearby birds stretching their whispering wings for the fabulous flight that lies ahead, the album truly captures the lingering essence of John Denver’s natural world, while coexisting in the sonic shadows of Jackson C. Frank. With tracks like “Painted Smile,” “Before You Hit The Ground,” and “Death of the Party” inviting the intimacy of life and death with open arms, Johnson peacefully paints this longing picture of the moon taking a long overdue hiatus from burning in the night sky to be something else for someone else far away.
https://deanjohnsongs.bandcamp.com/album/i-hope-we-can-still-be-friends
