Will Johnson - No Ordinary Crown (Keeled Scales)

Having always been a devotee to veteran singer-songwriter, painter and fiction author Will Johnson’s much-missed Denton, TX outfit, Centro-matic, it is of great comfort to hear him build upon his increasingly impressive solo work. Now based in Austin, Johnson’s newest effort continues to hone a style steeped in Americana, alternative rock, and folk. The opening “Along The Runner (No Ordinary Crown)” is an acoustic affair that steadily builds throughout, stacking instrumentation to interweave between the gaps in Johnson’s verses. Combining guitar wails trailed by haunting pedal steel, the track opens up into an ending climax that is the perfect lead-off track and interestingly enough, would suitably find a home as the record’s final cut as well.
No Ordinary Crown is precisely the type of record that sums up where Johnson is as a recording artist to date, perfecting a style that has been in the works since the early ‘90s in bands Funland, South San Gabriel, and of course, Centro-matic. “In Granada” unveils is quintessential alt-country with tenderhearted lyrics such as It’s an odd thing/ admitting that it’s true/ That the one thing/ That truly lifts you/ can nearly kill you atop a cello underbelly and finger plucked instrumentation. As the song builds, Johnson’s vocals start at the front the mix, gives way to a buried monotone that seems to be transmitted via transistor radio.
The album’s two instrumentals, “Alta (Warped Kite)” and “Inverio” seem ready for a Texas Hill Country set film soundtrack with all the tension, mystery, and musings both conjure, similar to a Sergio Leone spaghetti western scored by Ennio Morricone. Perhaps such a comparison is warranted as No Ordinary Crown is indicative of Johnson’s process of piecing together the album as fragments detained “on short tours where I could hear my thoughts a bit more clearly.”
“Swine” is as close as Will gets in regards to embracing his more gritty indie rock leanings. His studio players Britton Beisenherz, Ricky Ray Jackson, Roberto Sanchez, and Lindsey Verrill give Johnson’s rustic delivery the uptempo support it needs through a wave of noisy guitars and a chugging backbeat. Closing the album with perhaps his most tender track to date, Johnson cites both Freddie Mercury and Danny Torrence (the unsuspecting protagonist of Stephen King’s The Shining), on “Of Passengers And Plight” with its delicately plodding acoustic guitar, wandering pedal steel and low-rumbling cello ends No Ordinary Crown on an emotional high. Despite being mostly downbeat, its themes of heartbreak and lingering disappointment are relatable in so many ways yet No Ordinary Crown demonstrates Johnson’s acuity in song craft and his use of dynamics over bluster make it one of his most important and memorable solo outings to date.

For more information or to purchase, please visit:

Website
Keeled Scales
Bandcamp