The Hiding

Kacey Johansing has flown under the radar for some time, which is a shame. Hopefully this album will change that. After a split from her longtime collaboration Yesway, and a relocation from the Bay to LA, Johansing has taken the influence of her move, along with the friends and artists she’s played with along the way, to create her most stunning work yet. The Hiding has a sweet, lazy California feeling. Opener “Bow and Arrow” evokes a breezy Vetiver movement, and “Old Feeling, Old Foe” features swooning steel counter-melodies over an easy folk bed. All around, it’s tasteful, shifting and expanding with bright synth accents at all the right moments, with simple guitar lines—and, of course, Johansing’s naturally serene voice—at its heart. With that consistent ease, songs like “The Hiding” create an instant familiarity. Though the album is fueled by the heartache of departure, the lyrical peaks and valleys are buoyed buy an instrumental glide that lifts it into sight.