“Lost in the city lights“, the new album of Johnny Falstaff, was released on February 28th. It’s the 8th album of the Texan artist, six years after his last one, “Metro Billy“. Six years is a long time, but it was worth the wait: the new album, a bunch of honky tonk songs, is awesome!
Johnny Falstaff was born in Alice, Texas and grew up near Houston, but he now lives in Germany, where he recorded this new album, a brilliant LP that himself wrote and produced. He was recently back in Texas this year, and was a nominee at the Ameripolitan Music Awards, in the category “Honky Tonk male artist“. It was in February, in Memphis, Tennessee, a few days before the release of “Lost in the city lights“. Only some weeks ago, but it seems an eternity…
“Lost in the city lights” includes 10 great songs, all of them belonging to honky tonk style and traditional country music, with amazing instrumentation, particularly heavy pedal steel, and great songwriting. Johnny Falstaff worked with the fiddler Aaron Till (listen to the fantastic “Crash and burn“!) and with the legend of pedal steel, Tommy Detamore, for “Constant“, “Steppin Stone“, “Love in the city lights” and “Move a mountain“.
Among my favorite songs on this album, “Constant” is particularly outstanding. This love song is the quintessence of country music. Tommy Detamore is particularly impressive on pedal steel, songwriting is perfect and the result is one of the most beautiful songs that you’ll be able to listen to this year.
“Move a Mountain” is another outstanding song. I had this beautiful tune on repeat since it was released last year, previous to the album, and listening to it make my days really happier. It’s this kind of timeless country song, with great pedal steel and fiddle, and an excellent songwriting, that made me fall in love with country music. The way that Johnny Falstaff sings it is absolutely unique. A gem!
The title track, “Lost in the city lights“, also released previous to the album, is a fantastic honky tong song about enjoying nightlife in Houston. As Johnny Falstaff brilliantly sings it, “Tonight might be my lucky day […] tomorrow is just a sin away“.
The catchy “Steppin’ Stone“, with its heavy pedal steel, the beautiful “Crash and burn“, with its impressive fiddle, the excellent retro style “Stars“, the fantastic “Goin’ on a Trip” and the beautifully written “Learn Brother Learn” are also real gems for all those who love traditional country music.
Johnny Falstaff was supposed to perform during a country festival in France next summer, named “Country in Mirande“, not so far from where I live, and I was supposed to be there. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 concerns, the festival was cancelled. I’ll need to wait a little more to enjoy Johnny Falstaff’s live performance. I’m sure it will be worth the wait, and, while, I’ll keep listening to the beautiful “Lost in the city lights“, undoubtedly one of the best albums released this year.
Nicolas Davelu
Country Music France 