There are certain permutations on object permanence that humans never quite get a grasp on, such as the idea that someone central to our lives could ever, at any point, drift into the periphery of our social existence. And yet, more often than not, when a romantic relationship undergoes a mutual split, or a roommate breaks the lease, the promises of keeping in touch seem to fade fast.
With his latest single as Far Caspian, Joel Johnston addresses the bittersweetness of this inevitability wherein the distance formed between two individuals is due to necessary—and not necessarily bad—adjustments. “I wrote ‘Own’ about a friend who had moved away after we lived together for four years,” Johnston shares. “When I was young I believed the friends I had would be my friends forever, but as I grew up I learnt that people move into different stages of life and friendship can dwindle. There’s a bittersweet thing to it: you’re sad they’ve lost contact, but happy that the reason for it is because they’re busy with new things. I wanted to write a song that was from the perspective of someone hoping for the best for their friend.”
Matching the lyrics, the track’s instrumental perfectly balances melancholy with an upbeat melody recalling peers like Hovvdy as it locks into an Elliott Smith–like groove for nearly five minutes. Meanwhile, the video depicts this newfound sense of isolation with time lapse footage of Johnston unemotively going through the motions of everyday life while occupying his now-roommate-less living space. Check it out below, and pre-order Far Caspian’s new LP The Last Remaining Light here before it drops July 14 via Tiny Library Records.
