SMOKEY “BLEAK HERITAGE” - NEW RELEASE on Lonesome Records
︎LISTEN to BLEAK HERITAGE︎
SMOKEY (AB) is Nickelas Johnson, a musician and multidisciplinary artist from northern Alberta, Canada. Drawing from lofi anti-folk and garage experiments, he creates a kind of spooky country music. He is joined live and on record by Aaron Parker, Aladean Kheroufi, Gavin Dunn and Paul Arnusch.
BLEAK HERITAGE:
After re-emerging a couple years ago with a string of singles (Horsecock, Springtime, Sudden Death, Your Beast, and the smash summer anthem Ready To Die), BLEAK HERITAGE is SMOKEY’s first full length album since 2016’s SMOKEY & THE FEEELINGS. The title BLEAK HERITAGE isn’t an indictment as much as an appraisal of resources: can you build anything from this inheritance? Where did you come from, where did you go?
I lifted the title BLEAK HERITAGE from an old paperback I found- an amusingly incongruous title for a romance novel. I like how collage re-contextualizes contrasting elements, so I plopped it on a photo of my great-grandpa and me from the only time we met. Turns out, it binds together this collection of songs into a meaningful package. I’ve been reflecting on a death fixation that has morphed from something morbid into something maybe sacred. We’re all blinking in the debris of generational gambles, and some of us are faced with a conundrum: do we want things to end because we don’t want to live, or because we want to live a way we haven’t allowed ourselves to? I have people I love, so I’ve chosen joy as a preferred delusion.
This collection of songs represents disparate periods of writing. I’ve collated them because they feel connected, but they were written and recorded over years—some live off the floor with the band, some alone at home or at Mossy Trails. Many were shaped in studios with friends like Chris Dadge, Aladean Kheroufi, and Patrick Michalak. I’m not chasing coherence or innovation really, just trying to write songs to excite myself as my heroes die off.
Thematically, the record plays with wonder and horror, mysticism and death, acceptance. It’s loving and it’s idiotic and it’s horny. Sonically, it’s more acoustic and features more percussion- steel drum, empty bottles, a bell from my grandparents’ farm. It’s decidedly leaning away from using overdrive pedals to announce dynamic shifts, instead manifesting builds naturally.
BLEAK HERITAGE is out now on Lonesome Records.
“Now that I’ve opened this book I’ll need to finish it. BLEAK HERITAGE as in the sins of the fathers or your brush with literal and emotional bankruptcy a few years back? Doesn’t matter - Smokey’s been there, and I’d go blind halves with him on a patch of soil anyday. Maybe a place like the home quarter north of Edmonton that holds his heart and occupies space on this album. It’s an earthly offering with a pulse. Handsome Family idiosyncrasies meet Palace Brothers grit and the Smokey ethos begins to reveal itself. Intense moments are off-set by a recurring smirk that gives this batch of songs a human consistency. The well drained sandy soils of youth fold over into clay laden layers as life’s half-way point comes into view - the idea of death exists not just ahead of you but all around. Smokey sees it, and spits in its face on Ready to Die. Existential swayings continue, as the visceral Your Beast unravels like a tormented hiker succumbing to his self-doubt while the band plays on - knowing they too are but a wafer away from a night of cannibalism. The dots begin to connect with Less Is Lots, revealing a softness to the skin of your captor. Found sounds and the occasional guitar flourish are necessary touches here, and feature throughout the album. Smokey’s musings and mutterings are smart, but the roast doesn’t taste over-seasoned. He knows that we are on the soil, yes, but he’s equally aware that we will soon be the soil, and that this gift of breath is a prize of unspeakable worth as much as the Horsecock is. Things generally get better with time, but this notion has an obvious speed limit. BLEAK HERITAGE - as a reminder of it all - stands to be my favourite book of the year.”
-Skinny Dyck
︎LISTEN to BLEAK HERITAGE︎
UPCOMING SHOWS
Smokey is adding dates to support Bleak Heritage now.
10.15.2025 Toronto ~ the Cameron House w/ Christo Graham
11.9.2025 Edmonton ~ at Plaza Bowl w/ Skinny Dyck
11.29.2025 Edmonton ~ Aviary
SCANDANAVIA 2026
23.01.26 Amager Records ~ Copenhagen (DK)
24.01.26 TBA
25.01.26 ~ Lev & Lar ~ Egense (DK)
26.01.26 TBA
27.01.26 TBA
28.01.26 ~ Vaktbua ~ Kristiansand (N)
29.01.26 ~ Klosterenga ~ Oslo (N)
30.01.26 ~ Folkesk Hus ~ Uddevalla (S)
31.01.26 ~ Mono ~ Växjö (S)
The release of BLEAK HERITAGE was celebrated AUGUST 16 at BLEAK PARTY, a day-long block party in the loading dock of Bent Stick Brewing in Edmonton, Alberta, featuring SMOKEY, JEFF CLARKE (from the BLACK LIPS and DEMON’S CLAWS), BIG EVIL RAT, KIP LILY, and a special solo performance from BEN DISASTER. BLEAK PARTY was presented by DOUBLE LUNCH PRODUCTIONS and HOT PLAINS.
VIDEOS
Watch READY TO DIE
Watch SUDDEN DEATH
Watch HORSECOCK
Watch SPRINGTIME
Watch YOUR BEAST
BLEAK HERITAGE tracklist:
- In A Boat 06:27
- Job (Get a Job) 03:37
- Springtime 02:37
- Your Beast 05:18
- Jesus x3 02:13
- Bleak Heritage 00:50
- Coyotes 03:05
- Horsecock 02:40
- Milk of the Universe 04:20
- Sudden Death 03:37
- Throat 04:01
- Ready To Die 04:07
- Less Is Lots 02:14
All songs written by Nickelas Johnson
© 2025 LONESOME RECORDS
All Rights Reserved
credits
The LineupNICKELAS “SMOKEY” JOHNSON - acoustic & electric guitar, lead vocal, synth, percussion
AARON PARKER - electric guitar, bass, percussion, ribbon synth, background vocal
GAVIN DUNN - pedal steel guitar, background vocal
PAUL ARNUSCH - drums, percussion
ALADEAN KHEROUFI - bass, piano on Ready To Die
CHRISTINE HANSON - cello
CANDICE KELLY - background vocal on Your Beast
TOM MURRAY - bass on Sudden Death
CHRIS DADGE - extra percussion on Throat
1, 3, 7, 9, 11 engineered and mixed by Chris Dadge at Child Stone Studios
5 engineered by Chris Dadge and mixed by Chris Dadge & Nickelas Johnson
10 engineered and mixed by Patrick Michalak with Paul Arnusch at Cabineer Studios
2 engineered and mixed by Nickelas Johnson & Gavin Dunn
4, 6, 13, engineered and mixed by Nickelas Johnson
8 engineered by Nickelas Johnson & Aaron Parker
12 engineered and mixed by Aladean Kheroufi at Municipal Recorders
Cover Photo by Marilyn Johnson
Inside photo by Larry Louie
Art and layout by Nickelas Johnson
All songs written by Nickelas Johnson
All songs mastered by Nik Kozub
© 2025 LONESOME RECORDS
All Rights Reserved
Thanks to Candice Kelly, Tom & Marilyn Johnson,
Larry Louie, Norman Omar, Darren Radbourne,
Fish Griwkowsky, Tandie & Ewout, Ryan Dyck,
Craig Martel, Jay Willis, Amy van Keeken, Bowman,
Emily Bachinsky, Kelsey McMillan, Jason Colvin,
Brodie Cameron, Brad Sime, Ryan Leedu,
Laura La France, Parker Family, Aaron Getz