Color: Sunset Cream Cake. Indie Exclusive. UPC: 648401039696 With I Hope We Can Still Be Friends , his debut for Saddle Creek, Dean Johnson makes a pact with the listener: He will sing you his truth in the most heartfelt and charming way possible, if you promise to keep an open mind. The title partly stems from the playful way the Seattle-based singer, songwriter and guitarist communes with his audiences at concerts. "I hope you're not afraid to talk to me after the show," he'll say, sweetly, before launching into "Death of the Party," the album's seventh song. Centered on the "energy vampire" archetype -- the exasperating windbag we've all encountered at some point -- its lyrics are at once intellectually biting and unmistakably hilarious. His tender voice rings out like the ghost of Roy Orbison or a misfit Everly brother. Johnson spent years tending bar at Al's Tavern in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood. There, he encountered folks of all stripes; and regulars enthusiastically murmured about his budding musical greatness -- There's the best songwriter in town! Johnson was a kind of local lore, a long-held family secret, before the singer finally broke out in 2023 with his debut album, Nothing For Me Please, at age 50. I Hope We Can Still Be Friends is essentially an anthology that bridges Johnson's earliest days as a songwriter with his present-day outlook and abilities. There are songs that have been in his setlists for years, and others that will be new to fans. Each of its 11 tracks contains jocular social commentary or lovingly rendered affairs of the heart. The album's songs about love and relationships offer another way to interpret its title: as a parting thought to an ex. Like all of Johnson's cable-knit writing, the title is a clever banner for the album's dual nature, the thing that binds its tragedy and comedy masks. Johnson explains that he didn't set out to make a concept album. It's a coincidence that about half of th...