Cult indie rockers Johnny Foreigner has remerged and dropped a compilation titled ‘the sky and sea were part of me, or I was part of them’. The collection is being described as a “companion” to ‘How To Be Hopeful’, which will be their first album in eight years.
‘How To Be Hopeful’ will be released on September 13th via Alcopop! Records. The aforementioned ‘the sky and sea…’ includes two new tracks, ‘What The Alexei’ and ‘Orc Damage’. Both will appear on the upcoming album.
The compilation also includes three exclusive tracks, produced by Evan Bernard, and “assorted ancillary materiel”.
In a lengthy statement from Johnny Foreigner, the Birmingham quartet described ‘How to be Hopeful’ as “a pure product of chaos magic”. They go on to comment on the two new songs from the compilation, calling ‘What The Alexei‘ as their “first actual love song” despite “potentially libelous homage to the best sad single indieboy song that raised us”. Whereas ‘Orc Damage’ is considered as a “grim recounting of corporate greed, collateral damage and the collapsing end of an era.”
‘the sky and sea were part of me, or I was part of them’ is out now on Alcopop! Records. ‘How To Be Hopeful’ can be pre-ordered here.
Read Johnny Foreigner Full Statement on ‘How To Be Hopeful’ and the sky and sea were part of me, or I was part of them’
Feels like a huge privilege to release a loud righteous rock record about finding love and joy in the universe at a point where such things are in such universal short supply. This release is 28 months past deadline; our timing has always sucked. But honestly we’ve had little choice; How to be Hopeful is a pure product of chaos magic. It compelled us to be made, to harness returning ripples of stones long since thrown. It felt way too significant, too personal, too full of moments worth savouring and patterns playing out, to rush. Also, we are old and have real jobs now.
It’s actually 2 matched parallel soundtracks, 1 per side, for a 12 month period where the worst, then the weirdest, then the best possible things happened. Same series of events, different ripples, chaos and consequence and everything connected This is our celebration record, our fell-in-love-and-stopped-worrying album, the glowing cathartic coda that we couldn’t help but channel. The least Johnny Foreigner of albums; nearly 3 years of obsessive planning and constructing, executive produced by 2007 anti-nostalgia us, and 2016 us who stopped being a band when we ran out of things worth singing about.
Thru one of many strings of strange coincidence (magic) we were able to utilise our absolute -DREAM TEAM- of present day humans; Dominique James recorded at JT Soars, Bob Cooper produced and Machine mastered. Of course, this is an Alcopop! record, cosigned by our Japanese label Shore&Woods. じゃあ、またね !
Release details to follow in time, but for now please meet “the sky and sea were part of me or I was part of them”; an introductory compilation comprising of 2 songs from the album proper, 3 exclusives produced by Evan Bernard, and assorted ancillary materiel / haunted piano.
Those two album songs are “What The Alexei” which is both our first actual love song and a potentially libelous homage to the best sad single indieboy song that raised us, and “Orc Damage”, a grim recounting of corporate greed, collateral damage and the collapsing end of an era.
Bedazzled, not blunted.
Alexei/ Junior / Kelly / Lewes 2024
1. (a million different galaxies)
2. What the Alexei
3. All of the Colours
4. Exhibit #1; This Automated Age
5. If you ain’t at the table, yr on the menu
6. (speak of it and curse it)
7. Orc Damage
8. All of the Chords
9. (fireworks, full blosson)
1. Roisin Does Advice Now
2. The Blazing World
3. What The Alexei
4. Museum of Useless Things
5. Orc Damage
6. Okay 1 More
7. This is a Joke
8. Dark Tetris
9. Their Shining Path
10. A Sea To Scream At
11. Emily and Alex
12. We Build This City
