Johanna Samuels is about to follow up 2021’s Excelsior! The LA singer-songwriter’s latest album, Bystander, is coming in June. It was produced by Bonny Light Horseman’s Josh Kaufman, and its lead single “Ugly On The Inside” is out today.

The song’s lush, propulsive folk-pop becomes a backdrop for some serious introspection, as Samuels explains:

This song is a combination of both my inner demons and some experiences that shook me emotionally. I can’t control the fact that unkind self-talk, thoughts and fears always have the capacity to emerge. This was the beginning of me learning to surrender to all of it and let it pass through and make space for quiet and joy. In many ways, it’s a song about owning yourself and coming into your own power.

Director Jon J. Lee says this of the music video:

I was at a coffee shop while in development for this, and a group of guys entered. Even though they all dressed uniquely – one like a frat boy, the second like an artist, another in his pajamas, and the last in a businessy collared shirt – they had this connected energy, as though they were four different versions of the same person. Immediately a lightbulb went off in my head: let’s make a music video with four versions of Johanna, each representing a different part of her psyche.

Watch below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Ugly On The Inside”
02 “Golden Gate”
03 “Holy Mothers”
04 “The Rest Of Us”
05 “Phil Spector Is Dead”
06 “Valentine’s Day Is Stupid”
07 “Little Buckets”
08 “Any Good”
09 “Song For Molly Parden (Happy Birthday Darling)”
10 “Tampa”
11 “Inside Girl”

Bystander is out 6/23 via Jealous Butcher.