Back in May, we introduced Autofiction, the latest full-length from Ireland-born, Leeds-based songwriter Joel Johnston, AKA Far Caspian, describing how the record sees the project come full circle. After the genre experimentation of debut Ways To Get Out and follow-up The Last Remaining Light, “Autofiction is […] something of a soft reset,” we wrote. “An opportunity to return the Far Caspian project back to the simple joy of making music after years of challenges both artistic and personal.” As the title suggests, this stylistic reversion is matched by an increased focus on real life, something apparent on single ‘An Outstretched Hand / Rain From Here To Kerry’, with Johnston almost diaristic in his detailing of a failed attempt to climb Carrauntoohil and subsequent all-night drive back across Ireland.
With the release of the album on Tiny Library Records fast approaching, Far Caspian are back with the title track. Airy in tone but direct in nature, the number is what Johnston describes as a simple love song dedicated to his partner Megan Lama, and Lama herself lends supporting vocals to further deepen the compassion of the sound. “I see you by the phone box you called in / all the words that you say,” Johnston sings in the opening, embodying the interplay between the tactile and the intangible which constitutes such intimacy. “I feel close as if you’re here beside me / don’t feel bad to stay / delicate colouring book by your front door / caught in a haze when you call.”
Watch the video directed and edited by Joel Johnston himself below:
Autofiction is out on the 25th July via Tiny Library Records and you can pre-order it now from the Far Caspian Bandcamp page.
