Alain Johannes, the co-creator of the highly influential ’90s alternative rock band Eleven as well as a key contributor on releases from Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures and Chris Cornell, will release his third solo album, Hum, on 31st July via Ipecac Recordings. The album is available digitally as well as physically on CD/LP here.
His third single, the psych-folk tinged “Hallowed Bones”, is accompanied by a music video directed and edited by Fernando Reyes which captures the majesty of nature connecting with those pagan undertones which first inspired the song and which here works so well in bringing the magic of his music to life.
Johannes says of the track:
“Hallowed Bones came to me first as a visual of dancing around a fire in the woods at night. Almost like a pagan dance, a ritual in a trance celebrating love in the present and it’s continued pull after our loved ones are gone.”
Hallowed Bones lyrics
In my pocket hallowed bones
Hale and whole to the edge of the world
On I go
When the tide of the moon bespoke
Did I hear deeper still
Understood once I woke
For the promise of naive dreams
Maybe not all is lost
As it seems
As it seems
In the hardness of a new day
Searching in my magic hat
So the child
Won’t fade away
On and on it ebbs
On and on it flows
Years are borne from days
As the silence grows
On and on with joy
On and on with pain
Meet me here again my love
My love
In my step your lightness weighs
As your word carrying me
Echoes on don’t you stray
Oh to know all that you now know
Just a peek through your eyes
Saving me
Saving me
Alain Johannes first came to international prominence with Eleven, a trio that featured Jack Irons (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and with Johannes’ beloved late wife, Natasha Shneider. Eleven released five albums between 1991 and 2003. Johannes and Shneider became sought out contributors, working with Chris Cornell on his celebrated 1999 solo debut, Euphoria Morning—which the couple co-wrote, co-produced, and toured in support of. They also lent their talents to Queens of the Stone Age’s chart-topping 2005 Lullabies To Paralyze and the subsequent two-year touring cycle that followed its release.
Along the way, Alain either wrote, produced, or engineered projects for No Doubt, Mark Lanegan, Jimmy Eat World, Brody Dalle, and Arctic Monkeys, to name a few. Not to mention, he performed in PJ Harvey’s live band as well as Them Crooked Vultures where he shared stages worldwide with Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones.
A sought-after composer for film, television, and video games, he has penned music for HBO’s Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends) as well as Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands and Breakpoint. Plus, Grohl enlisted him as part of the Sound City Players, co-writing and performing various cuts on the soundtrack for Sound City. Following Natasha’s passing, he unveiled his first solo effort, Spark, in 2010 before delivering the follow-up Fragments and Wholes, Vol. 1 three years later.
Photo credit: Tom Bronowski