With New Moon Pangs John Johanna presents his first full-fledged studio album of acoustic folk rock and marks an exciting return to musical and poetic roots. Grooving country gospel; a driving drone-folk setting of a 17th Century radical ballad; an elegiac dream of a South American master; a shimmering evocation of a vanishing world of visionary greenwood ecstatics… and more. Recorded over two days at London’s Total Refreshment Centre with James Howard on electric bass, Ursula Russell on drums, and producer Kristian Craig Robinson, the album was finalized in Johanna’s rural Norfolk home studio, IMZIM. The result is a collection that balances raw, live energy with intimate, poetic depth. The fervent oddball spirituals of previous records have given way to songs that reveal a devout belief in the undiminished power of voice and acoustic guitar to produce fresh and living forms of lyrical expression. John Johanna is the nom de guerre of Ben MacDiarmid, a singular English singer-songwriter whose varied output has run from initial cassette forays in minimal rock and psych-folk to 2022’s Ahimsa EP, a futurist soundscape made with Mandé jali Sefo Kanuteh. In 2024, Johanna’s talents extended to the silver screen, composing the score for Day of the Fight, a feature film that premiered at the Venice Film Festival. He is currently working with Contemporary Ritual Theatre, composing music for a new play named Wyrd Sister to be staged in 2026.
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John Johanna plays acoustic folk rock, psychedelic spirituals, and drone-folk infused with gospel blues and traditional instrumentation. Follow John Johanna on Mood.
John Johanna is a singer-songwriter based in rural Norfolk, England, where he records using analog cassette and reel-to-reel tape setups.
Notable releases include the studio albums New Moon Pangs and Seven Metal Mountains, alongside the Ahimsa EP.
