Kacey Johansing

Kacey Johansing approaches bittersweet West Coast sounds from the 1970s with a graceful and refined touch. After her solo debut Many Seasons appeared in 2010 and drew attention within indie circles, she reached her fourth album No Better Time in 2020, working alongside Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith) as well as musicians from Julian Casablancas & the Voidz and Tall Tales & the Silver Lining. The richer, partly Bacharach-inspired Baroque pop of Year Away, issued in 2023, gained extra depth from contributions by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy.

Originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, she grew up in Colorado playing in local groups during high school, then spent a few years at Berklee College of Music in Boston before relocating to California’s Bay Area. There she became active in the regional music, film, and art communities while performing at open-mike nights. She went on to collaborate with Geographer and added vocals or instrumentation to releases by tUnE-yArDs, Mirah, and Thao Nguyen. In 2010 she issued her first album Many Seasons, which she co-produced with Jeremy Harris and Robert Shelton; the darker follow-up Grand Ghosts arrived in 2013.

She next formed the short-lived duo Yesway with Emily Ritz, releasing their self-titled album in 2014 before the project ended. Night Bloom Records, the label she established with Real Estate’s Alex Bleeker and songwriter Jeff Manson, put out her third full-length The Hiding in 2017 after she finished recording it in Los Angeles following her move south. Working with Tim Ramsey (Vetiver, Fruit Bats), she prepared the next project; released on Night Bloom in 2020 and mixed by Rob Schnapf, No Better Time included appearances by Trevor Beld-Jimenez of Tall Tales & the Silver Lining, Amir Yaghmai of Julian Casablancas & the Voidz, and longtime Devendra Banhart bassist Todd Dahlhoff.

For the subsequent record she booked sessions at 64 Sound Studio in Highland Park and Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, shaping the material with Tyler Karmen (DIIV, Alvvays). The resulting 2023 album Year Away, again mixed by Schnapf, expanded into a lusher sound featuring Baroque passages for horns, woodwinds, and strings. Guest contributions came from Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy on guitar, electronic artist Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith on vocals, the Voidz’s Amir Yaghmai on violin, and the rhythm section of Todd Dahlhoff (Feist, Devendra Banhart) and Josh Adams (Jenny Lewis, Devendra Banhart). Night Bloom issued the album that October.