(NEW YORK, NY) -- Singer-songwriter, Russell Jamie Johnson has announced his upcoming self-titled album, arriving May 15, 2026 a cinematic indie-folk project that captures the quiet, unresolved space between heartbreak and healing. As his most personal work to date, the 8-tracks reflect a period of emotional reckoning, where love has ended, but its imprint lingers.

Today, Johnson shares the single "Who We Used To Be" offering an early glimpse into the project's emotional core. Rooted in conversations with friends back home and the realization that life has continued on without him, the song captures a specific kind of dislocation: the feeling of being caught between two versions of your life. As those around him settle into marriages, routines, and stability, Johnson reflects on his own path in New York City, questioning whether it's the place or the passage of time that has changed him most.

Rather than framing nostalgia as something purely sentimental, the single confronts it more honestly: as both comfort and conflict. It's about missing people, missing places, and ultimately missing a version of yourself that may no longer exist.

Based in New York City and originally from Linton, Indiana, Johnson has built his work around deeply personal storytelling. His self-titled album represents a defining moment in that journey, drawing from years of lived experience to explore heartbreak, longing, and the slow, often nonlinear process of moving forward. Rather than rushing toward closure, the project lingers in uncertainty, giving space to the feelings that remain when answers don't come easily.

"I wanted to make a record that doesn't rush past heartbreak," Johnson says. "A lot of music jumps straight to the healing part, but I think there's something honest about sitting in those emotions for a while when you're trying to move forward, but you're still holding onto something that hasn't fully let go."

The album blends indie, folk, and atmospheric Americana through organic instrumentation and raw, intimate performances. Acoustic guitar, piano, layered vocals, and subtle textures create a sound that feels immediate and unguarded, allowing each song to unfold with a sense of closeness and emotional clarity.

Self-titled as a reflection of its personal nature, the album serves as both an introduction and a reintroduction, establishing Russell Jamie Johnson as a songwriter focused on emotional truth and cinematic storytelling. Across the project, themes of memory, identity, and acceptance emerge, shaped by the experiences that define who we are long after they've passed.