Taste Test: Canyon City paints an evocative ‘Purple Horizon’
The singer-songwriter asks the listener a series of existential questions.
Welcome to Taste Test, a song/video review series of SubmitHub-only gemstones
“Purple Horizon,” the latest offering from musician Paul Johnson, known professionally as Canyon City, plants a philosophical quest deep in the brain. The movement is acoustic-wrought, yet there is an immense, full-bodied lushness circling around and around like an eagle spiraling across the desert sun. ““Where do you go when you don’t know where you’re going?” he asks. Johnson litters the song with such pointed, existential prompts to the listener, as much as to himself, too. We catch him mid-run, and he’s just doubled-back to push forward again. His journey has just begun, but a ripe wisdom sprouts from his fingertips and quickly blossoms out into a vivid photograph of life’s true potential. “Oh, this life is long,” he later whispers. His words float with a rosy effervescence. Even as heavy as the lyrics are, there emerges a calming agent ⏤ because none of us know and may never know the answers. We just have to go along for the ride.
“Purple Horizon” anchors his forthcoming EP, Circling the Sun, expected this October.
Listen below:
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