LIBBY JOHNSON
Libby Johnson started recording her follow-up to 2006’s acclaimed Annabella, and between the trails (or trials) of living as a troubadour artist, moving from New York to the county and back again, various activist projects, and the general “life getting in the way,” it wasn’t until January 2010 that Perfect View saw the light of day. Sometimes somber in tone, and other times wistful, Perfect View’s sweeping moods encompass such life changes.
If you didn’t hear her solo debut Annabella, but her name sounds familiar, you may have remembered her from dreamy indie electric folk outfit 22 Brides. Or you might have heard her songs as the centerpiece to the Bart Freundlich film Trust The Man starring Julianne Moore. Or you may have caught her back at CBGB’s playing with punk bands (while she studied jazz piano and worked as a session musician – how’s that for an MO). This ain’t Johnson’s first rodeo, and her myriad of experiences and influences intersect at Perfect View.
While the singer-songwriter crop is rather thick, Johnson’s impeccable tunefulness, gorgeous melodies, and dynamic songwriting that hinges between dramatic and gentle are different, and better, than traditional “coffeehouse folk.” One listen to “Rare & Beautiful” will prove it. There is an expansiveness to the music, fully realized and focused on Perfect View, amalgamating the ornate orchestration of Sufjan Stevens, the intimate folksiness of a Gillian Welch meets Chan Marshall, and the honey-textured, jazz-tinged and melodic siren vocals of Ingrid Michaelson. Others have been noticing, as Johnson’s received unanimous acclaim in publications such as No Depression, Performing Songwriter, The Boston Globe, and The Philadelphia Enquirer Selections from Perfect View can currently be heard on NPR’s World Café, XM Café, and XM Loft. This is one to watch…
