Far Caspian

Far Caspian releases new single & video 'An Outstretched Hand / Rain From Here To Kerry' taken from his forthcoming new album Autofiction, via Tiny Library Records.

Far Caspian, the project of Irish musician Joel Johnston, today shares his new single “An Outstretched Hand / Rain From Here To Kerry” off his forthcoming new album Autofiction, due out July 25th via his own Tiny Library Records (22º Halo, SOMOH). The chiming, expansive track is bolstered by rapid, energetic percussion and arrives with a self-directed video.

The lyrics across Autofiction are Johnston’s most direct, diaristic and literal to date, and “An Outstretched Hand / Rain From Here To Kerry” is no exception.

"This song ties two scenarios together. 'An Outstretched Hand' is just a simple love song about enjoying time in a new relationship and having that feeling that time is always against you because you want to spend it all with the other person,”

he explains.

“It’s also about a day/night back in 2014 when a group of friends and I went down to Kerry for my friend’s birthday to hike up Carrauntoohil, which is the tallest mountain in Ireland. A rough storm eventually sent us driving 8 hours back home through the night instead.

I remember my friend who drove asked me to promise not to fall asleep so that he had company the whole way. So I sat in the passenger seat while the others slept in the back.

We were forced into it, but that drive ended up being really special. It felt like one of those moments in life that will always be with you, especially at that younger age when the world feels like it’s in need of exploring."

“An Outstretched Hand / Rain From Here To Kerry” follows the album’s bright, warm lead single “First Day,” which earned support from Pitchfork (Selects), and many International media outlets (Top Songs of the Week, Editor’s Picks and more). Autofiction is now available for pre-order, and Far Caspian will celebrate its release with a run of US, UK, and EU headlining dates this fall that includes stops at London’s Scala and Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Shortly after releasing his acclaimed 2023 LP 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.

Freeing himself from any internal judgments or inhibitions, Johnston wrote songs for the album 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.

Far Caspian Live Dates:

08/09 - Dublin, IE - The Grand Social

09/09 - Manchester, UK - Night & Day Cafe

11/09 - London, UK - Scala

12/09 - Bristol, UK - Strange Brew

013/9 - Brighton, UK - Green Door Store

17/09 - Paris, FR - La Maroquinerie

18/09 - Brussels, BE - Botanique Orangerie

19/09 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Tollhuisten

22/09 - Berlin, DE - Silent Green

03/10 - Washington, DC - Union Stage

04/10 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg

07/10 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall

08/10 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry

10/10 - Denver, CO - Globe Hall

13/10 - Seattle, WA - Madame Lou’s

14/10 - Portland, OR - Polaris Hall

16/10 - San Francisco, CA - Bimbo’s 365 Club

17/10 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex