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Dean Johnson's 2025 record, I Hope We Can Still Be Friends, is ruminative and timeless. The Seattle-based songwriter shares a deluxe edition of the record, which includes two new songs from the original recording sessions. "My Mistake" pairs lonesome acoustic strums and slide guitar swells by Sam Peterson. "Silver moon, cast your sparkle on my tomb," Johnson sings in the haunting final lines, pondering a heaviness that can stem from self-imposed isolation. It is a dark aftertaste to the bittersweet album.
Ā
On the single, Johnson Shares: "'My Mistake' has a dark lyric which can be generalized as follows: Far too concerned with appearances and how you look in other peopleās eyes, the fear of making mistakes keeps you from trying at all. One day you realize that ātryingā is what life and learning are all about, and that youāve become an aged, shapeless, coward who would quickly drown if you ever had to depend entirely on your own abilities.
Ā
More generally, itās about missing the boat of life; staying behind and remaining isolated from experience. This darkness is deepened by the haunting melody and chord progression mingled with the spookily inspired slide guitar and baritone playing by Sam Peterson."
- - -With I Hope We Can Still Be Friends, his debut for Saddle Creek, Dean Johnson makes a pact with the listener: He will sing you his truth in the most heartfelt and charming way possible, if you promise to keep an open mind.
The title partly stems from the playful way the Seattle-based singer, songwriter and guitarist communes with his audiences at concerts. āI hope youāre not afraid to talk to me after the show,ā heāll say, sweetly, before launching into āDeath of the Party,ā the albumās seventh song. Centered on the āenergy vampireā archetype ā the exasperating windbag weāve all encountered at some point ā its lyrics are at once intellectually biting and unmistakably hilarious. His tender voice rings out like the ghost of Roy Orbison or a misfit Everly brother.Ā
āWords donāt come easily to me / I notice you donāt have that problem / It sounds to me you cannot stop them,ā Johnson sings over acoustic guitar strumming, and gentle bass and drums, like the narrator in a dark comedy whose coming-of-age misadventures have made for an excellent film.
Johnson spent years tending bar at Alās Tavern in Seattleās Wallingford neighborhood. There, he encountered folks of all stripes; and regulars enthusiastically murmured about his budding musical greatness ā Thereās the best songwriter in town! Johnson was a kind of local lore, a long-held family secret, before the singer finally broke out in 2023 with his debut album, Nothing For Me Please, at age 50.
āāDeath of the Partyā is a great example of that,ā he says of the sociological experience of bartending. āBeing in that environment, lyrics did solidify. If I was working on a song, it wasnāt unusual for some new aspect of it, or a line that was too vague, to suddenly come into focus.ā Ā Ā Ā
I Hope We Can Still Be Friends is essentially an anthology that bridges Johnsonās earliest days as a songwriter with his present-day outlook and abilities. There are songs that have been in his setlists for years, and others that will be new to fans. Each of its 11 tracks contains jocular social commentary or lovingly rendered affairs of the heart. The albumās songs about love and relationships offer another way to interpret its title: as a parting thought to an ex.Ā
Like all of Johnsonās cable-knit writing, the title is a clever banner for the albumās dual nature, the thing that binds its tragedy and comedy masks. Johnson explains that he didnāt set out to make a concept album. Itās a coincidence that about half of the albumās songs are a bit sardonic, and the other half are more lighthearted. The singer playfully refers to the former as his āmeanā songs, which is why the albumās back cover is adorned with a warning that says āBeware of Dean.ā
Like John Prine or Kris Kristoffersonās country-adjacent sound, devastating humor and economical profundity refracted through a barroomās haze, the album is filled with easygoing twang, sad characters, universal truths and the absurdity of everyday life. āCarolā recounts the numb consumption and dissipating cultural attention that is besieging America. Thereās a search for optimism amid meditations on dying in a plane crash in āBefore You Hit the Ground.ā Romance that is best forgotten steers āSo Much Betterā ā only Johnson could weave electroconvulsive therapy into a gentle, chuckle-inducing missive on unbearable heartbreak.
I Hope We Can Still Be Friends floats in a liminal plane between timely and timeless, its minimalist instrumentation elevating Johnsonās affecting voice to new heights. Recorded at Unknown Studio in Anacortes, Washington, the record was produced by Sera Cahoone ā the Seattle-based singer-songwriter Johnson describes as a āsoulmate sibling.ā Overdubbing took place at Seattleās Crackle & Pop!
For the sessions, Johnson assembled a small band of friends including Abbey Blackwell (bass, backing vocals), multi-instrumentalist Sam Peterson and Cahoone (drums, backing vocals), who created a familial tone on the already intimate album. I Hope We Can Still Be Friends, with its sharp observations and stirring personal insights, holds space for both intense reflection and emotional release. You may laugh, or cry or both. In this sense, the album is powerful medicine ā a way to both expose yourself to and inoculate yourself against the ugly, absurd, existential and heartbreaking. At its core rests a basic truth that is often difficult to remember or accept: Happiness wouldnāt exist without sadness as its counterpart.
On his uncanny ability to so clearly see and then encapsulate humanity in all its messy glory, Johnson offers this core memory, drawn from his childhood on Camano Island in the Puget Sound. āI was raised on a bluff,ā he says. āIām not trying to make it sound dramatic, but I did have a sweeping view.ā
Deluxe Edition Release Date: February 20th, 2026
Original Release Date: August 22nd, 2025
Dean Johnson's 2025 record, I Hope We Can Still Be Friends, is ruminative and timeless. The Seattle-based songwriter shares a deluxe edition of the record, which includes two new songs from the original recording sessions. "My Mistake" pairs lonesome acoustic strums and slide guitar swells by Sam Peterson. "Silver moon, cast your sparkle on my tomb," Johnson sings in the haunting final lines, pondering a heaviness that can stem from self-imposed isolation. It is a dark aftertaste to the bittersweet album.
Ā
On the single, Johnson Shares: "'My Mistake' has a dark lyric which can be generalized as follows: Far too concerned with appearances and how you look in other peopleās eyes, the fear of making mistakes keeps you from trying at all. One day you realize that ātryingā is what life and learning are all about, and that youāve become an aged, shapeless, coward who would quickly drown if you ever had to depend entirely on your own abilities.
Ā
More generally, itās about missing the boat of life; staying behind and remaining isolated from experience. This darkness is deepened by the haunting melody and chord progression mingled with the spookily inspired slide guitar and baritone playing by Sam Peterson."
- - -
With I Hope We Can Still Be Friends, his debut for Saddle Creek, Dean Johnson makes a pact with the listener: He will sing you his truth in the most heartfelt and charming way possible, if you promise to keep an open mind.
The title partly stems from the playful way the Seattle-based singer, songwriter and guitarist communes with his audiences at concerts. āI hope youāre not afraid to talk to me after the show,ā heāll say, sweetly, before launching into āDeath of the Party,ā the albumās seventh song. Centered on the āenergy vampireā archetype ā the exasperating windbag weāve all encountered at some point ā its lyrics are at once intellectually biting and unmistakably hilarious. His tender voice rings out like the ghost of Roy Orbison or a misfit Everly brother.Ā
āWords donāt come easily to me / I notice you donāt have that problem / It sounds to me you cannot stop them,ā Johnson sings over acoustic guitar strumming, and gentle bass and drums, like the narrator in a dark comedy whose coming-of-age misadventures have made for an excellent film.
Johnson spent years tending bar at Alās Tavern in Seattleās Wallingford neighborhood. There, he encountered folks of all stripes; and regulars enthusiastically murmured about his budding musical greatness ā Thereās the best songwriter in town! Johnson was a kind of local lore, a long-held family secret, before the singer finally broke out in 2023 with his debut album, Nothing For Me Please, at age 50.
āāDeath of the Partyā is a great example of that,ā he says of the sociological experience of bartending. āBeing in that environment, lyrics did solidify. If I was working on a song, it wasnāt unusual for some new aspect of it, or a line that was too vague, to suddenly come into focus.ā Ā Ā Ā
I Hope We Can Still Be Friends is essentially an anthology that bridges Johnsonās earliest days as a songwriter with his present-day outlook and abilities. There are songs that have been in his setlists for years, and others that will be new to fans. Each of its 11 tracks contains jocular social commentary or lovingly rendered affairs of the heart. The albumās songs about love and relationships offer another way to interpret its title: as a parting thought to an ex.Ā
Like all of Johnsonās cable-knit writing, the title is a clever banner for the albumās dual nature, the thing that binds its tragedy and comedy masks. Johnson explains that he didnāt set out to make a concept album. Itās a coincidence that about half of the albumās songs are a bit sardonic, and the other half are more lighthearted. The singer playfully refers to the former as his āmeanā songs, which is why the albumās back cover is adorned with a warning that says āBeware of Dean.ā
Like John Prine or Kris Kristoffersonās country-adjacent sound, devastating humor and economical profundity refracted through a barroomās haze, the album is filled with easygoing twang, sad characters, universal truths and the absurdity of everyday life. āCarolā recounts the numb consumption and dissipating cultural attention that is besieging America. Thereās a search for optimism amid meditations on dying in a plane crash in āBefore You Hit the Ground.ā Romance that is best forgotten steers āSo Much Betterā ā only Johnson could weave electroconvulsive therapy into a gentle, chuckle-inducing missive on unbearable heartbreak.
I Hope We Can Still Be Friends floats in a liminal plane between timely and timeless, its minimalist instrumentation elevating Johnsonās affecting voice to new heights. Recorded at Unknown Studio in Anacortes, Washington, the record was produced by Sera Cahoone ā the Seattle-based singer-songwriter Johnson describes as a āsoulmate sibling.ā Overdubbing took place at Seattleās Crackle & Pop!
For the sessions, Johnson assembled a small band of friends including Abbey Blackwell (bass, backing vocals), multi-instrumentalist Sam Peterson and Cahoone (drums, backing vocals), who created a familial tone on the already intimate album. I Hope We Can Still Be Friends, with its sharp observations and stirring personal insights, holds space for both intense reflection and emotional release. You may laugh, or cry or both. In this sense, the album is powerful medicine ā a way to both expose yourself to and inoculate yourself against the ugly, absurd, existential and heartbreaking. At its core rests a basic truth that is often difficult to remember or accept: Happiness wouldnāt exist without sadness as its counterpart.
On his uncanny ability to so clearly see and then encapsulate humanity in all its messy glory, Johnson offers this core memory, drawn from his childhood on Camano Island in the Puget Sound. āI was raised on a bluff,ā he says. āIām not trying to make it sound dramatic, but I did have a sweeping view.ā
Deluxe Edition Release Date: February 20th, 2026
Original Release Date: August 22nd, 2025