Los Angeles singer-songwriter Kacey Johansing has shared “Old Friend,” the third preview of her forthcoming album, Year Away, out next Friday via Night Bloom Records, the label she runs alongside Alex Bleeker of Real Estate. The track opens with an aching melody set to stark piano chords before blossoming with swooning production flourishes that recall the best of Harry Nilsson. “This song is not only about letting a friendship go,” explains Johansing, “it is also about letting an old version of yourself go. I became obsessed with Monarch butterflies while writing this record and watched many of them transform into a chrysalis and then hatch out of their cocoon.” 

Year Away traverses uncharted emotional landscapes brought upon by intense loss and isolation Johansing experienced in early 2020. A longtime touring member of Hand Habits and Fruit Bats, and a crucial collaborator in the flourishing Los Angeles folk scene, Johansing turned inward as her phone went silent. “I felt like a metamorphosis happened during that time. There was a lot of personal growth and healing” she recalls. Watch the videos for “Not the Same” and lead single “Last Drop” below, an instant classic that puts Johansing’s knack for pop melodies and lush production over a driving rhythm section.

Photo Courtesy: Aubrey Trinnaman