Johanna Samuels releases "Double Bind" today; Album streaming with Wondering Sound!

Brooklyn's Johanna Samuels releases debut LP, Double Bind, today

Double Bind streaming now with Wondering Sound

"Real Tragedies" via Earbuddy
MP3 Download / SoundCloud


"For You To Do" via Paste Magazine
MP3 Download / SoundCloud



Photo: Sean Ryan Pierce

"Outstanding debut from Brooklyn-based songstress." - Americana UK

25-year-old Johanna Samuels broadens the definition of pop music. The melodically and lyrically focused singer-songwriter sings about the depths and dualities of life with her unique bell-like voice. Standing on the shoulders of the great musicians of the 1960’s and 70’s she manages to create a sound and sense of musical place that is completely her own. The native New Yorker grew up in Los Angeles, where from a young age she sang in school choirs and obsessively learned to play the songs of her musical heroes by ear.

 

Check out the amazing new video for "Real Tragedies" that premiered last
week with My Old Kentucky Blog.

 

After moving back to New York at the age of 18, Samuels began writing her own songs alone in her bedroom. Soon after, she was playing solo shows at small downtown music venues like East Village’s Sidewalk Café.

 

In 2012 she recorded and self-released a six-track EP,Giant Fantasy Life and assembled a 4-piece backing band. With her rapidly growing audience and her delightfully authentic performing style, she is one of most promising acts to spring from the New York independent music scene.

 

In early spring of 2012 she set out to record her first full-length album, titled Double Bind. After recording basic tracks with the band at a quilt factory-turned-studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Samuels and drummer Fen Ikner, who produced Double Bind, finished recording wherever they could get the chance.

 

The songs on Double Bind were written in Johanna’s apartment in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and all share a sentiment of necessary separation or as Samuels puts it “…attempting to own myself and stand on my two feet.” She explains, “While recording the album, a good friend had described the term Double Bind: a dynamic wherein two emotional demands are met but consequently negate each other, leaving one person to feel trapped. For some reason that struck a deep chord in me. It is from that place that many of these songs grew.”

 

With her feet firmly planted, Johanna plans to stick around the only ways she knows how: earnestly pouring out her heart, soul and creativity in the form of ear candy for us all. Double Bind is expected for release July 22, 2014.

 

Johanna will be celebrating the release of Double Bind on Sunday, July 27th at Glasslands, with Tuff Sunshine!

Praise for Double Bind….

"...it is a great effort for a debut, and shows that Johanna Samuels knows exactly who she is and what she wants to sound like. She showcases her unconventional lyricism and haunting voice, all the while setting her self apart from other modern pop artists. - The Aquarian

"There's a frank honesty and earnestness on Double Bind that keep you invested in these songs when most artists would simply have led you down this pop path and expected you to stick around because you've got nothing better to do. But Samuels' music is something entirely different, something that sticks in your mind and refuses to let go—which is exactly what great pop music should do." - Nooga

'“For You To Do,” one of the more buoyant tracks on the album, is a great example of Samuels’ expression of dual emotions, not just in the lyrics but in the instrumentals." - Paste Magazine

"Moving from solo shows to fronting a four piece band, upcoming debut album Double Bind is a classic sounding pop record with one eye on the present." - The State

 

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