Suzannah Johannes’ Los Angeles is the lost album you need to hear
Suzannah Johannes
Back in July, we premiered “Colleen Part 1” from Lawrence singer-songwriter Suzannah Johannes’ then-forthcoming album, Kansas City: Hanz Bronze Boulevard, a new collection of songs marking her first release in over a decade. For those into vinyl, you’ve had its follow-up, Los Angeles: The Missing Album, since August, but it finally hit streaming services on Friday, January 2.
The story of the new album is just as amazing as that for Hanz Bronze Boulevard, because while the music is new to you, the actual recordings were done in Los Angeles in 2013. As with Johannes’ August release, much of how it came to be is due to Josh Adams, the former Ghosty and Snuff Jazz drummer who’s since gone on to Los Angeles studio work.
“ In 2013, I want to say, I had this record offer,” recalls Johannes. “And then Josh was like, ‘Why don’t you fly out to L.A. and do the records?’ So, then I did that.”
Given the way Los Angeles was recorded, Johannes didn’t figure out any of the finance stuff, as it was one of those things where she, Adams on drums, producer Gus Seyffert on guitar, and studio musicians Tyler Cash on keyboards and Gabe Noel on bass, recorded it all in two and a half days, live and straight to tape. During the process, singer-songwriter Syd Straw stopped by to drop off some lemons, and ended up singing backing vocals on album opener “Whisper.”
“I didn’t think I could release that, ’cause I never paid Gus,” Johannes admits. “Gus is from Kansas City. He’s friends with Josh and then he brought in some friends. I think I had a thousand dollars that I gave them for time or food or like whatever.”
However, doing Hanz Bronze Boulevard led to Johannes contacting Seyffert to talk about that album to see what they might be able to do with it.
“He was like, ‘You know what–just put it out,’” continues Johannes. “’If you make a million dollars, let’s talk.’”
While Johannes describes Los Angeles as “really old” and “there are mistakes and stuff on it,” the experience of listening to these 12-year-old recordings demonstrates just how powerful Johannes is as a musician. When we’re wrapping up our interview, Johannes wonders aloud, “ I’m curious if it sounds old, all that stuff. I can’t really hear it the way someone would hear it who’s not me,” and honestly, no, it doesn’t.
While Hanz Bronze Boulevard is admittedly more mature, leaning very much into a mellow country-rock sensibility, Los Angeles‘ indie-pop leanings slot neatly into the time just a little after Beach House’s Bloom. It’s dreamy and replete with danceable hooks, not unlike other 2013 releases like Haim’s Days Are Gone on “Brighton Beach” or Vampire Weekend’s Modern Vampires of the City on “Lutheran Town.”
Not for nothing, but the musicians on the Los Angeles recordings have gone on to some impressive stuff in the interim between their recording and release. Producer/guitarist Seyffert has produced artists like Beck, Jenny Lewis, and Dr. Dog, and has toured with Beck and the Black Keys, while bassist Noel has worked with Kendrick Lamar, Roger Waters, Sia, Harry Styles, and more.
One can almost compare Johannes’ musical transformation in the intervening decade to that of Jenny Lewis, who’s also moved into a twangier sound as of late, and whose “Just One of the Guys” feels in conversation with Los Angeles album closer “Island.” Both songs’ confidential musings and matter-of-fact loping grooves see a musician changing pace and turning inward, and one can only hope that, hearing these songs now, audiences connect just as much as they might have in 2013.
