Johnny Lloyd will release his second studio album in as many years, ‘Cheap Medication’, out 30 October 2020 via Xtra Mile Recordings. Preorder now on white LP, CD and download. The follow-up to 2019 solo debut ‘Next Episode Starts In 15 Seconds’ and is the next instalment of what Johnny hopes will become an annual series of releases.
The new album continues a prolific spell of activity for the songwriter that has also seen him release two compilations of outtakes and rarities (Low Fidelity Vol. 1 & 2); work in collaboration with his partner Billie Piper and playwright Lucy Prebble (Succession) to score the critically-acclaimed Sky Atlantic series ‘I Hate Suzie’; and rekindle friendships with his original band of brothers to reform Tribes. Released today and premiered by Steve Lamacq on BBC 6Music on 15 September, ‘Real Thing’ is the album’s lead single. Watch the lyric video below.
Dreamy of delivery, it’s a straight-up love song to rival the best. Johnny says of the single: “It’s about finding your purpose to be with the person you’re meant to be with. I wanted to write a rock’n’roll love song, instead of a cliched one. It’s rough around the edges, but it’s definitely a love song.”
Penning the songs for ‘Cheap Medication’ in 2019, the record was crafted in the rare instances of downtime he could find in a hectic schedule dominated by touring commitments, a surge in demand for his soundtrack work, and keeping-up with a young family. Reconnecting with producer Nathan Coen, early sessions took place between his base in London and Johnny’s home in Dorset, before the pair set-up shop in the legendary Abbey Road Studios to mould a new record into shape. Having worked with Coen on his debut, their productive working partnership saw them hurtling towards a record that looked to be done-and-dusted by the beginning of 2020.
And yet, hampered (as so many plans were) by the UK lockdown, Johnny used his time in isolation to complete its remaining songs solo at home. Finding the restrictions easing in early summer and a new record tantalisingly close to completion, Johnny reached-out for a little help from some friends to add those finishing touches. Kapil Trivedi of Mystery Jets, Pete Denton of The Kooks and Tom Odell’s backing band can all be heard to be pitching-in their musical talents to the proceedings, whereas a stunning vocal accompaniment from rising San Diego star Shelbi Bennet sees the singer lift the album’s title track into the stratosphere.
The songs of ‘Cheap Medication’ reflect a very different Johnny Lloyd; a maturing artist broadening his horizons with a range of new experiences, perspectives and influences. Recently inspired by the works of Harry Nilsson, the Mamas & The Papas and The War on Drugs, traces of each and more can be detected throughout ‘Cheap Medication’. From the off-kilter, far-out songwriting of ‘In This World’ or the title track, the laid-back soulful folkiness of ‘Suze’ and ‘Haze’, to the expansive dreaminess of ‘Heavens Below’ and ‘Heaven Up Here’, it’s a record that palpably feels like Lloyd challenging himself to take his music to plateaus new and hitting his creative stride.
A record representative of Johnny’s own current relationship with music, the album’s title couldn’t be more apt. As Johnny says: “That’s exactly what music is for me. Well ‘free medication’, I suppose it should have been called. It’s a cheap, medicinal thing I use to get me through whatever passage of the day that I need it to.” Euphoric and universal, uplifting and even at times spiritual, ‘Cheap Medication’ is a record that finds an artist comfortable in his own skin and daring to take chances; the therapy of a life in songwriting yielding its most confident results yet. “I don’t think I’ve been happier with a collection of songs for a long time. I feel really good about this and think there really is something on there for everyone.”