The new single from emerging Athens singer-songwriter Elijah Johnston is full of whimsy and charm, even as it seems to bristle with a degree of sharp melancholy. That’s not to say wit and longing are mutually exclusive; on the contrary, how often have we seen humor used to mask feelings of pain and regret? Given it’s pun of a title and the smooth contours of the song’s elastic verve, you may not expect “Sultan of Schwinn” to trace out an arc of uncertainty and heartache. But similar to Will Toledo’s work in Car Seat Headrest, Johnston takes what would seem to be a fleeting moment or memory and uses it as a springboard to dive into far more brooding and contemplative waters.
“Last spring I saw a girl riding through Athens on a very large yellow Schwinn,” he explains. “I thought she seemed really cool, and it made me really insecure about something that bothered me from growing up—I never learned how to ride a bike. I started thinking maybe it’s a symbol of some sort of adolescent failure or something like that, and that’s when I started writing the song. Tack on a verse about missing someone and there ya have it.”
Listen below.
Elijah Johnston will perform tonight at 238 Madison Hts alongside Nordista Freeze, Tommy Trautwein, and Shane T. Doors open at 7 p.m. Admission is $2. All ages.
More Info
Basecamp: elijahjohnston.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @elijahmjohnston
Instagram: @elijahmjohnston