Far Caspian, the project of Irish multi-instrumentalist and producer Joel Johnston, has announced the release of his debut album Ways To Get Out on October 8 through AllPoints. It comes after years of releasing singles and EPs, during which Johnston honed his craft, and he can now boast having played and recorded every element of Ways To Get Out. Speaking on the themes of the album, he says:
“‘Ways To Get Out’ is whatever the listener wants it to be. Ways to get out of a small town, ways to get out of a relationship, ways to get out of your own head. The album as a whole is about the things I came across in my twenties, but could be applied to any transitional period in life: depression and anxiety, tired relationships, feeling stuck within a scenario and place, wishing things were easy like childhood, rejecting your identity and becoming someone else.”
The first song to be shared from the record is “Questions”, a song that seizes on that idea of escape and ascends it to the clouds on an aerodynamic cloud of dreampop. While in the bright and gliding guitar, quick-footed bass and skittering drums there are definitely hints of Wild Nothing, the polyphonic additions of synth (undoubtedly about to get stuck in your head) bring a wholly unique sound and character to the song. “You’re skin and bones / questioning it all again,” he muses, pulling off a wonderful concoction by singing in a yearning fashion but strapping it to an ascendant instrumental, which yields a bittersweet note of quiet determination – a humbly human desire for more, for whatever one’s imagination can conceive, even if it means some difficult decisions along the way.
The video for “Questions” premieres at 5pm BST, for now you can listen to the song on streaming platforms.
Far Caspian’s debut album Ways To Get Out arrives on October 8 through AllPoints (pre-order/save). You can find him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as these dates:
12th Oct: Jericho Tavern, Oxford
13th Oct: Lafayette, London
14th Oct: Patterns, Brighton
15th Oct: The Louisiana, Bristol
20th Oct: Deaf Institute, Manchester
21st Oct: Hug & Pint, Glasgow
22nd Oct: Ulster Sports Club, Belfast
23rd Oct: Sound House, Dublin
24th Oct: Brudenell Community Room, Leeds
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16th Feb: Club Nalen, Stockholm, SE
17th Feb: Revolver, Oslo, NO
18th Feb: VEGA Ideal Bar, Copenhagen, DK
20th Feb: Nochtspeicher, Hamburg, DE
21st Feb: Berghain Kantine, Berlin, DE
22nd Feb: Kranhalle, Munich, DE
23rd Feb: Artheater, Cologne, DE
25th Feb: Paradiso upstairs, Amsterdam, NL
26th Feb Trix Bar, Antwerp, BE
28th Feb: Le Pop Up, Paris, FR
2nd Mar: La Nau, Barcelona, SP
3rd Mar: El Sol, Madrid, SP
