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| Photo from @Johnnieguilbert on Twitter |
Written by Cheyenne Davey
Johnnie Guilbert, Youtuber and musician, released his debut album I Could Sleep Here, I Could Die Here on July 6, 2018. Previously, Johnnie had two EPs, Not So Perfect (2015) and Lost (2016). Both albums had more of an acoustic sound to it, like something you would find on Youtube, which makes total sense. They really weren’t bad albums in all honesty. I remember even buying Not So Perfect on CD, I loved it so much. But, I sort of fell out of Johnnie, his music and his channel. Why? I don’t really know. So, when I heard that he has new music coming out, I thought I’d give it another chance and see if I fall back in love or not. Well, here we are. Music is out and I truly am loving it. Johnnie has improved tremendously! To me, I hear the vocal improvements. He sounds more confident and more polished on this album.
His music videos have improved as well! I didn’t mind his videos before, some of them felt sort of forced. I know for the first album, there was this behind the scene issue, which would make sense on why the video seemed sort of forced. For the two that he’s released for this new album, they seem to be something that he actually wanted to do and had fun with. They match his emo aesthetic and are interesting to watch. I always love it when he adds Alex Dorame, his girlfriend, to his videos. I know this is more about Johnnie, but I just want to put out there that it’s amazing how supportive Alex is of Johnnie’s music. He released music videos for “Afraid” and “Victim” The video for “Victim” was honestly cute to watch. Johnnie is wearing skull pattern makeup, which seems to be the theme for the record. The skull appeared in the “Afraid” video, and Death is on the album art, so it’s fitting for the video, and not just some random paint. The video really just shows Johnnie and Alex hanging out, making it seem very natural. They both look like they’re having fun and actually enjoying filming. While watching it, I couldn’t help but to smile because it just seemed so casual and sweet. The video follows the song well, as in the song and video aren’t crazy. Both give out more relaxed vibes. Really, the whole album has that sort of relaxed vibe. I feel calm when I listen to the album. I love that feeling, it’s nice to have a calming song every once and awhile. The songs can be relatable as well, which is always the best. There’s certain parts of songs that I’m sure many people have related to at some point. In “Unwind”, there’s a lyric that just says “Never good enough”. That’s it. It seems to be this song about the fear of losing someone dear to them because they’re not good enough for the person, and they “don’t deserve anyone”. While this sounds pretty dark, I’m sure many of us have felt something like this to some degree. Whether you think you’re not good enough to get into a specific school, you’re not good enough to get a certain job, or not good enough to write; I’m sure this has been felt to some extent. It’s a very versatile phrase and song, which makes it a great song. Though, I’m sure Johnnie meant to have it mean one thing for himself, but it’s bound to be adapted by his listeners.
“Afraid”, “Victim”, “Heavy” are my favorite songs at the moment. “Afraid” has this sort of Hispanic sound to it, which makes it completely different from his music before and really most things I listen to. It certainly adds a twist and more interesting element to the song. I can see myself honestly bopping to this song more often. The video for it was sort of strange, but we won’t get into that here. I’m not really sure what it is about this song that makes me love it so much, but it’s just such a bop. It’s repetitive, which makes it catchy and fun to sing along to. “Victim” has this older vibe to it. It’s hard to explain but it sounds like a song you might hear in the background of an early 2000s party movie. I think it has a lot to do with the drums, but it’s great. It’s another catchy song, which is probably why this one also has a music video. “Heavy” has a this guitar riff in the beginning that just pulls me in. The rest of the songs has a repetitive clapping/snapping sound that makes it easy to track the beat and tap along to.
Honestly, Johnnie has improved so much over the years. Even though I fell out with his older music, this new album is bringing me back. The tracks all have something in them that makes me want to listen to more. There’s either a catchy chorus, a guitar riff, a relatable lyric, or something else that will keep you listening. The album is more on the acoustic side still, it’s definitely integrated more instruments and sounds that make it sound more like a professional album. You can tell that Johnnie has put a lot of time and effort into this album. While I liked the past albums, I do think this is the best thus far. Keep up the wonderful work Johnnie! He has improved so much over the years and I can’t wait to see how much more he can improve in the coming years. The next album is bound to be better, and I can’t wait. For sure check out I Could Sleep Here, I Could Die Here on Spotify!
Rating: 8/10
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