Far Caspian

Far Caspian - the project of Irish musician Joel Johnston - today announces his new album Autofiction will be released on July 25th via his own Tiny Library Records (22º Halo, SOMOH). On its sunny lead single ‘First Day’ - out now alongside a self-directed video - bright, warm guitar riffs and uplifting percussion lay the foundation for a heartfelt love song. “I wrote ‘First Day’ one morning after dropping my partner off at her new job. She was in a transitional period where everything felt so daunting and raw. At a similar time, I was starting a new medication for my Crohn's disease that required me to go to the hospital and get infusions every 8 weeks,” the now Leeds, UK-based Johnston shares. “The first time I went, my partner was the one to drive me. I wrote this song as a reminder of how we have each other's backs and best interests at heart, regardless of how unsure we may be about what's ahead.”

Far Caspian has also announced a run of UK and EU headlining dates in September, before US headline dates through October/November; see below for a current itinerary. 

Autofiction follows 2023’s The Last Remaining Light, which earned praise and support from Pitchfork, Paste, Consequence (Best Albums of July 2023), Aquarium Drunkard, Brooklyn Vegan, FLOOD, Treblezine, Bandcamp (New & Notable), Atwood Magazine (feature), and more.

The lyrics across Autofiction—which dive deep into mental health burdens, self-forgiveness, recovery, and gratitude for supportive, uplifting partnership—are Johnston’s most direct, diaristic and literal to date. As such, it’s also his most vulnerable release yet. “I just wanted to get the message across,” he says. “People will sometimes comment on songs of mine saying ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ I wanted to make a record that was a bit more heard. I even made my vocals louder than I usually do.” Freeing himself from any internal judgments or inhibitions, Johnston wrote songs for Autofiction with a simple motto: “I’m enjoying this right now and therefore it’s good enough.” The process helped him reconnect with the joy of music, the reason he started making it in the first place. It felt like the first time he made an album for himself, rather than an audience. 

Shortly after The Last Remaining Light, Johnston set up his own recording studio in Leeds, where he produces and mixes for a number of UK-based acts. This work with other artists, while unrelated to the album, proved to be a vital step in the making of Autofiction. While Far Caspian is performed live as a six-piece, Johnston has spent years writing, producing, and recording a full band production for it all on his own, and that began to take a mental toll. With a mounting feeling of stress and pressure, he nearly decided to quit his own project; but after producing albums for Green Gardens and Ellur, Johnston’s spark for Far Caspian reignited. Newly inspired to enjoy the process, he returned to some demos he had started for Autofiction and completed the majority of the album in January 2025. 

Johnston used his new studio experience to approach the making of the album with a fresh mindset: “After producing Ellur, I was able to just say to myself: ‘I’m going to produce this Far Caspian album now. I’m presenting myself with these demos I’ve had for a while. Let me see what I can do with them as a producer, not as a songwriter.’” With influences ranging from Broken Social Scene to the Japanese band Supercar, the instrumentation of Autofiction feels light, textured, and always energetic. It was recorded entirely in Johnston’s studio, where he himself produced, mixed, mastered, and played every instrument heard on the LP.