In anticipation, Johanna Samuels has released the record’s first single, ‘High Tide For One’. The song was written in the aftermath of Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court, focusing in particular on the brave ordeal faced by Dr. Blasey Ford as she went up against Kavanaugh and the rest of the American Right. “My heart was broken,” Samuels describes, “I reflected on how much scarcity of space and validation in basic experience there is for all female-identifying people.”

Last night I saw that man on TV
His tears tasted like silver bullet and supremacy
But the woman wasn’t screaming
She remembers the same night only differently

But despite the difficult subject matter, ‘High Tide For One’ sounds rich and reflective, at least on the surface. Samuels’s Rhodes piano is matched by subtle bass and winding guitar, weaving a calm but cloudy foundation from which the vocals emerge. Samuels is joined by backing vocals from A.O. Gerber and Olivia Kaplan, just two of Excelsior!‘s stellar guest list that also features Courtney Marie Andrews and Lomelda.

‘High Tide for One’ is available now via the Johanna Samuels Bandcamp page. Excelsior! will be released Spring 2021 on Mama Bird Recording Co. (US/World) and Basin Rock (UK/EU).

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