Swedish Grammy Award winning rock duo, Johnossi release their new single 'Echoes' and also announce their forthcoming sixth album 'Torch // Flame' (BMG) to be released on February 28th.
Guitarist/vocalist John Engelbert and drummer Oskar "Ossi" Bonde turned the album itself into an exploration of the wildly conflicting forces that shape our existence. On single 'Echoes' Engelbert explains:
"A song about being driven by ego and the shame and darkness that comes with being a destructive individual. This was the first song we wrote for the album and it set the tone."
The music video for the track is entirely using clips from the 1968´s cult classic horror movie 'Night of The Living Dead', directed by George A. Romero. It´s edited and done by lead singer John Engelbert and his wife Nathalie who had never worked on a music video before. All started with them just having fun and playing around.
"We had this idea of a video that felt haunting, psychological and a bit psychedelic too," explains Engelbert. "Being a fan of black and white 60's horror films for a long time, Nathalie had wanted to do something with the material from 'Night of The Living Dead' for a while. When she heard 'Echoes' she instantly felt that the two would fit well together. By using handpicked scenes from the film and adding a few very simple (crappy) effects we started building our own storyline. A psyche within the film. It was remarkable how the original editing of the film synched so well with the rhythm and pulse of the track."
The estate of the late director George A. Romero in America gave their approval of the film clips usage.
Johnossi made their comeback in November 2019 with first single 'Longer The Wait, Harder The Fall'. Produced and mixed by Pelle Gunnerfeldt (The Hives, Refused, Viagra Boys), forthcoming album 'Torch // Flame' came to life through Johnossi's most immersive album-making experience yet. In an effort to distance themselves from the distractions of everyday life, the band headed to the countryside outside Stockholm and holed up in a huge lakeside mansion, spending all of September 2019 in that happily isolated environment.
"We were pretty much eating, breathing, and sleeping the whole process of creating this record, and it brought a really special feeling into the work," says Bonde. "It felt as if it was never meant to be any other way."
In a departure from their previous album Blood Jungle (a 2017 release made with more pop-leaning producers), Torch // Flame finds Johnossi embracing the raw and untamed vitality of their earliest output - an element that Gunnerfeldt helped to amplify.
"Torch // Flame" track listing:
1. Hot Thoughts
2. Longer The Wait, Harder The Fall
3. Torch // Flame
4. The Beat
5. Echoes
6. Heavens (Then We Begin)
7. In Your Eye
8. CCCcowboys
9. Sleepin' In
