Single review: Johann Lourde - Johann’s Theme
WORDS BY ARUN DHANJAL
IG: @AJDZAR
If you’re tuned into the modern underground sounds that are being born from the floating ethers, you’ve probably noticed a pattern emerging. Songs seem to be blending genres in more ‘in your face ways’ than ever before. Like taking experimental noise and smashing it against pop melodies - it’s cool, when done right.
It’s probably a symptom of today’s over-stimulated generation. Almost all the music ever created is at the touch of our fingertips. It takes a special mind however to pull it off, a tracing of the line of influences that lead to you. Johann Lourde does just that on his new single ‘Johann’s Theme’.
You can tell there’s depth to the single from the instant you put it on. The rolling and captivating drums introduce the track, setting you up for crunching metal riffing, followed by Sri Lankan inspired brass and flute passages. At each point I wasn’t expecting the next instrument to come in throughout the song, but I loved being surprised at each corner. The riffs are tight, the song’s structure is just right and nothing overstays its welcome. Not only well written, but well produced too.
Described as “a fusion of Sri Lankan Baila and folk music with brutal metal guitar riffs to create a unique and distinctive sound,” the single certainly delivers. Impressive too that Johann has cleverly incorporated elements of his heritage within a metal music casing.
One aspect that struck me was how much this sounded like a video game soundtrack. I had read the press release for the song after listening to it, and in fact Johann had “envisioned himself as a video game character, with the instrumental drawing on his Sri Lankan roots and love of metal music.” Again, clever that even before being primed that this was Johann’s intention, it translated well in the song itself.
It’s obvious from this single that Johann has a wide range of influences from the likes of Sri Lankan baila legends H.R. Jothipala and The Gypsies, to metal bands such as Maximum the Hormone, Bloodywood and Waggaki. Johann however avoids parading his influences for the sake of it - on ‘Johann’s Theme’ he’s parading them and having fun with it.
Johann Lourde’s single ‘Johann’s Theme’ is out today on all streaming platforms. His debut album is also expected in late 2022/early 2023.
ABOUT ARUN
Arun Dhanjal (a.k.a Zar) is the drummer in noise rock/hardcore band Muscle Vest, a producer of electronic music influenced by UK Garage, South Asian Music, Jazz, Deep House, Hip Hop and psychedelic aesthetics, and a DJ playing all the above and more. He is also a member of the Daytimers collective, championing South Asian artistry.