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Libby Johnson
'Annabella'
Libby Johnson's debut
solo album on Wrong Records signals the evolution of a major musical
artist. And 'Annabella' -- and those well of singing and songwriting
talent -- could make Libby a household name by the end of 2006.
Yet, it was a long road
to this point. Her previous musical career has been dominated by the
beloved and critically acclaimed the "tunefully intense" (Billboard) New
York City band 22 Brides, formed with her sister Carrie. "There was a
place in me that felt like I can't do this by myself," she allows,
adding, "There's a deep place in my heart for that band. I loved working
with my sister. But I am ready to let go of the band in a really
positive way."
Johnson's remarkable
songs often took shape in unexpected places, such as the bathroom. "I
wrote 'Don't Mean You Lost Your Love' sitting in my
bathroom. I write a lot
of songs sitting on the end of my bathtub. The
acoustics are great in
there." A driving folk-rock gem, "Don't Mean You Lost Your Love" would
sound familiar to fans of the Cowboy Junkies or Tom Petty but Libby's
voice lends the song additional power.
She adds, "When I write
songs, I just pick up an instrument and something usually comes out of
it. It's an impressionistic process."
Of "Annabella," Johnson
says, "I wrote that song one day when I was really sick. I had
laryngitis when I was singing it. We took the demo and added [drummer]
Steve [Jordan's] parts." The effect has a desperate, rasping edge added
to Johnson's versatile voice atop a blues-rooted groove.
She explains, "The song
is really what the Annabella character wishes she could hear someone say
to her. She's remembering a feeling she had for someone, wishing it were
still there and longing for it to come back."
"Every Broken Curve," a
loping song that feature a lovely harmony line,
displays perhaps
Johnson's most poignant lyrics on 'Annabella':
So
it is to be your love
A
tide that pulls and calls
A
messy song of contradictions
Painted in a sidewalk scrawl
But
in all the scattered leaves
There’s reason to believe in what appears to be
So
give your tears to me
Elsewhere, Johnson
sneers with attitude on the rapid-fire "Undone," a snapshot of a life
coming apart. The lovely "Another Life" is a piano ballad, a rarity on
an album written mostly on and for guitar. The easy, organic "Rain" was
originally conceived during a Quaker meeting "The first line came to me
there," she says. "I went home and completed the song from there." To
bracing effect, she uses the war as a metaphor for internal conflict, a
theme to which album returns often.
Producer and Wrong
Records chief Daniel Wise recorded 'Annabella' with a veteran band at
The Shed in New York, where artists from
John Mayer to Rod Stewart, Herbie Hancock to the North Mississippi
All Stars have previously recorded. The resulting eleven-track album
shows co-producer Johnson to be a multi-faceted singer, musician and
songwriter and an artist of singular vision.
Then Hollywood came
calling.
After Wise played a few
tracks for "Trust The Man" writer-director Bart Freundlich, the latter
was stunned and decided to edit several scenes around Johnson's music.
Julianne Moore, who stars in the New York-set romantic comedy alongside
David Duchovny, Billy Crudup and Maggie Gyllenhaal, said, "Libby's music
is so soulful and heartfelt. What she's done for this film reminds me of
what Aimee Mann did for Magnolia."
Johnson says, "I think
that the themes of the film and the songs on my record had a commonality
and that's why they worked well together. We were both writing about
disharmony, resolution and the struggles that go on in a relationship,
and the record and film both really speak to that."
"Trust The Man" also
spawned the infectious "Indelible Mark," which plays over the film's end
credits. It's one of the most memorable melodies on an album full of
them.
 But 'Annabella' is
deeply rooted in Johnson's other life experiences as well.
Born on an army base in
Germany, Libby moved with her family around the east coast and
subsequently to Nairobi, Kenya at the age of 13. She was a self-taught
piano player until formally studying jazz in her teens, and we taught to
play guitar by her folk singing mother. Her father played bagpipes.
Libby performed her first live gig at age 14 in a pub on the outskirts
of Nairobi to a besotted and diverse audience of locals.
Johnson reflects,
"Nairobi is full of amazing things. That move was probably the single
most influential thing to happen to me. It gave me a sense of compassion
that I might not have if I'd continued living in the U.S. I was
unencumbered and open to having a lot of different experiences and
meeting a lot of different people."
Johnson first moved to
New York with a pocketful of jazz standards and eked out a living
playing piano bars. While in New York, she and Carrie formed 22 Brides,
an outfit that quickly earned notice for its unconventional harmonies,
swirling folk-rock melodies and sophisticated lyrics. "I played
percussion and keyboards. Later on, I learned how to play bass," she
says. The band's three albums, released in the 1990s on Zero
House/Universal, landed the Johnson sisters on World Café, and Lilith
Fair tour in 1998. 22 Brides paid its dues on the road, headlining and
opening for artists Ani DiFranco and Freedy Johnston. Though 'Annabella'
represents Johnson's first solo foray, she does not rule out the
possibility of another Brides record.
But 'Annabella' proves
that she is able to strongly command her talents on her own.
Libby Johnson •
Annabella • Wrong Records • September 5, 2006
Biography courtesy of
Electric Artists |
