Silverchair Frontman Daniel Johns Is Making Sultry Soul-Pop Now
Daniel Johns released the video for “Aerial Love” today. It’s got kind of a new millennial Sade thing going on, a sultry soul-pop ballad accented with minimal electronic flourishes. That’s very on-trend — or at least it would have been a year or two ago — so it wouldn’t be cause for mental whiplash if not for the fact that Johns used to front the post-grunge MTV buzz band Silverchair when he was a teenager. When you realize that dude staring back at you from behind fishnets and eyeliner up there, the guy fucking in the desert down below, is the same guy who used to stare at you through stringy locks of blonde hair in the videos for “Tomorrow” and “Ana’s Song,” you might freak out a little bit. I wonder how many of today’s other aspiring pop stars used to be teenage Kurt Cobain acolytes? And I’m glad my teenage identity isn’t constantly hovering around me in my adult life. Check out Johns in action below; once you get over what an unexpected leap this is, the song ain’t bad.
Maybe Johns could open for Rhye on tour later this year? Or duet with BANKS? In any case, I guess he won’t be reuniting Silverchair for a Frogstomp 20th anniversary tour.