“Going into the bothy, the intention had been to write about connecting with my surroundings, feeling ‘at one’ with the island,” says Johnny. “With ‘Natural Successor’, I quickly discovered it was more about the desire to surrender to nature’s whim. Letting nature take charge. I was imagining all the different natural disasters joining forces, and wreaking havoc on mankind.
“I’d been reading about earthquakes caused by fracking, man’s responsibility for global warming, oil fires, etc. All these Manufactured Disasters. Then, throughout the pandemic, seeing all the horrible stuff that we do to one another, the fault lines we’ve created in society that separate us. Whether it’s a pandemic, or the destructive effects of climate change, there are definitely some days where I think we deserve the revenge the planet is taking upon us.
“Not quite sure that ‘Natural Successor’ eloquently captures all this, mind you... but it was a cathartic experience playing a big dumb riff over and over again. Would recommend.”
Watch/listen below.
