Yahoo News Daniel Johns announces new album FutureNever: ‘I’m not anxious about what comes next any more’
Daniel Johns has announced his first solo album in seven years just weeks after the media-shy singer-songwriter starred in a tell-all Spotify podcast.
The former frontman of Silverchair, the Dissociatives and Dreams put the news in a letter to fans, writing: “I know I have a tendency to go missing but I’m back now.”
Related: Who is Daniel Johns? The hit podcast untangling Silverchair’s enigmatic frontman
He described FutureNever, which is set for release on 1 April 2022, as “a place where your past, present and future collide” and where “the quantum of your past experiences become your superpower. The experience of the [Spotify] podcast has helped me make peace with my past and I’m ready to tackle this new world bravely.”
On 20 October, the enigmatic 42-year-old released the first in his hugely popular five-part podcast, Who Is Daniel Johns?, in which he opened up about his struggles with fame, obsessive fans, anorexia and reactive arthritis, as well as the breakup of Silverchair and his 2008 divorce from Natalie Imbruglia.
The podcast’s creators, Kaitlin Sawrey, Amelia Chappelow and Frank Lopez, were granted unprecedented access to Johns’ life, including his childhood bedroom; five bonus episodes featured the musician in conversation with Billy Corgan, Van Dyke Parks, Tom Delonge, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker and Imbruglia.
Writing in Guardian Australia, Andrew P Street described it as “the Australian equivalent of Britney Spears’ fame-trauma story”.
In the letter announcing his new solo album – his first since 2015’s debut LP Talk – Johns wrote: “Thank you for listening to my podcast Who Is Daniel Johns? I didn’t know that I needed that experience but I did. The reception around the world has inspired me and I’m not anxious about what comes next any more.”
He described FutureNever as “an eclectic mix of music that I’ve made over the last couple of years”, featuring collaborations with “a few of my friends”. The album is the first Johns has released on his own label via a new global deal with BMG.
“I won’t be leading in with singles, the album is designed to be enjoyed as an album. Call me a hopeless romantic but that’s the benefit of releasing music on your own label. Nobody can tell you what to do.”
He said he would be “slowly revealing” songs in the lead-up to the April release.
In an interview with The Project in October to promote Who Is Daniel Johns?, the singer was emphatic he would never perform live again and also declared: “I wouldn’t get Silverchair back together with a gun to my head for a million dollars.”
