Underappreciated singer-songwriters of the world, unite! The Los Angeles musician Johanna Samuels relased her sophomore album Bystander in 2023. Today, she announces that she has signed with Odd Man Out Recordings, and she drops a new single that features backup vocals from her peer Courtney Marie Andrews, who released her own Valentine album earlier this year.
"White Limousine" is a lush, '70s-style singer-songwriter jam about how it's way too easy to get caught up in the aesthetics of glamor, pretending to be a character that you're not. Foxygen's Jonathan Rado produced the song, and he plays a bunch of instruments on it. Samuels and Andrews' voices blend nicely, and the old-school sleekness underlines the point of a song inspired by Samuels suffering her first panic attack when she was a teenager in the early '00s. Here's what Samuels says about it:
It was in a white limousine. A friend had rented one for her 15th birthday, and I felt a pressure rising within myself to be inauthentic that night. I felt a sense of dread come over me, like I was unsafe. I could feel myself growing apart from myself.
I have found that in the pursuit of art in my adult life, the marketization of the medium, and the social setup of the musical community has brought this same feeling up again and again. I've found myself having to recenter values when I find myself drifting from my authentic heart. I’ve learned that if you don't make a practice of it, life will recenter your path for you (to remind you who is in charge). This route is oftentimes much less graceful and not as peaceful.
The song's video is directed by Norma, who also stars, and it has fun with the old-timey Hollywood aesthetic. Check it out below.
"White Limousine" is out now on Odd Man Out.
