Ethan Johns' 'The Reckoning' "Will Burn Your Soul" This August

Singer/songwriter and Grammy-nominated British producer and visionary Ethan Johns will release ‘The Reckoning’ (Three Crows Records) stateside on August 12.

Produced by longtime collaborator & friend Ryan Adams, the 10-track LP details the travels of fictional character Thomas Younger as he pursues his wayward older brother James across the ocean, and eventually into 1850’s America’s vast Western frontier.

“The record is truly watching the world burn,” proclaimed Adams about the record. “It’s so fire hot, it will burn your soul, and it feels so good too.”

Nimble guitar picking provides the backdrop to the “dark and foreboding” (Mojo) album’s subdued opener “Go Slow,” which introduces the album’s understated yet complex approach to storytelling. Utilizing legato strings, Johns’ commanding baritone and subtle percussive accents strewn throughout the song continue into a brighter strings & piano laden ode to the new day, “Dry Morning.” With menacing guitar cords reverberating throughout, Ethan’s entrancing songwriting & vocals help relay the story with fervor and ease starting from the blues guitar grit of “Talking Blues” before reaching the pensive centerpiece of the album “The Low Down Ballad Of James Younger.”

“The stories all spring from the song ‘The Low Down Ballad of James Younger,’” Johns explains about the album’s concept. “It’s about the choices we make as individuals in life, and the effects that those things can have on us. It’s life on a knife edge.”

Watch Johns and Adams talk about 'The Reckoning': http://bit.ly/1uCXn3K

As a producer, Johns’ credits include Adams, Ray LaMontagne, Laura Marling, Kings of Leon, Joe Cocker, Tom Jones and Paul McCartney, and he released his debut solo project 'If Not Now, Then When?' in 2012. 'The Reckoning' was recorded at Adams' Pax-Am studio in Los Angeles over the course of a weekend.