Jay-Jay Johanson

Biography

Jäje Folke Andreas Johansson (born 11 October 1968), better known by his stage name Jay-Jay Johanson, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, known for his melancholic vocals. His music has integrated the trip hop genre until now, even if he also includes a more electronical oriented direction from his 2002 album Antenna×Antenna1 September 2002 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1On the Radio4:372Kate4:023Cookie4:174Déjà vu3:595Open Up4:316I Want Some Fun4:377Automatic Lover4:198Wonderful Combat4:19919842:4710Tomorrow / [unknown]13:36, which featured "On the Radio×On the Radio2002 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1On the Radio (radio edit)4:232On the Radio (Fu-Tourist remix)6:17". From his debuts, he has released 14 studio albums, continually touring on stage all around the world.

Biography

Jay-Jay Johanson was born Jäje Johansson on 11 October 1968 in Trollhättan, Västra Götaland. His debut album, Whiskey×Whiskey1996 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1It Hurts Me So6:012So Tell the Girls That I Am Back in Town5:053The Girl I Love Is Gone3:394Skeletal0:405I'm Older Now4:056Extended Beats2:547Tell Me Like It Is3:218I Fantasize of You5:049Mana Mana Mana Mana5:15, was released in August 1996. Recorded at Break My Heart Studios in the Stockholm archipelago, the album was characterized by its jazzy vocals over trippy, film noir arrangements.
In 1998, Johanson released Tattoo, taking a step into a more richly textured, poetic ambience. Johansson's third album, Poison×Poison8 May 2000 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Believe in Us4:262Colder (I Want You No More)4:423Keep It a Secret4:264Alone Again4:365Escape4:506Anywhere Anytime3:507Time Is Running Out2:418Poison4:109Humiliation3:0710Suffering4:4911Changed6:301275.07.051:5013Far Away4:4114Whispering Words3:41, was released in April 2000 and went straight into the French charts at number four. The album featured contributions from Cocteau Twins founder and guitarist Robin Guthrie. The same year Johanson also composed the soundtrack to French director Ilan Duran Cohen's film La Confusion des Genres×La Confusion des genres2000 · Album · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1Introduction1:172La Confusion des genres: Theme (vocal version)3:203Stiletto0:394End Theme (Alone Again remix)3:475Babette1:046Seven Inch4:547Haircut Suicide1:258La Confusion des genres: Theme3:179Lullaby1:51, and in 2001, Johanson emerged with "Cosmodrome", a sound-and-image installation first exhibited in the French city of Dijon. This art-piece has travelled around the world and was last shown at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
Antenna was released in 2002, recorded with assistance from German experimental electronic group Funkstörung. 2004 marked the release of the compilation Prologue×Prologue3 April 2004 · Album · CompilationSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracks1So Tell the Girls…(2004)4:272Automatic Lover4:183On the Radio (radio edit)4:194Kate3:495Rescue Me Now5:006Suddenly…20044:497My Way3:328Keep It a Secret3:519Believe in Us4:2710Far Away6:2611Two Fingers4:3112Jay‐Jay Johanson4:1813Milan, Madrid, Chicago, Paris4:1014She’s Mine but I’m Not Hers (live version)3:1815It Hurts Me So6:0016I’m Older Now4:4117So Tell the Girls That I Am Back in Town4:52, meant for the American market. It was followed by Rush in 2005, an album partly produced by French producer Jean-Pierre Ensuque.
Johanson co-wrote and contributed vocals to The Knife's 2006 song "Marble House". In the spring of 2006, he called together the musicians he had worked with on the three first albums, and January 2007 saw the release of their collaborative effort The Long Term Physical Effects Are Not Yet Known. A tour in promotion of the album kicked off in China and continued to more than thirty cities around the world.
Johanson's eighth studio album Spellbound×SpellboundMay 2011 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 23 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Driftwood1:182Dilemma2:583Shadows3:514On the Other Side4:165Suicide Is Painless4:006Monologue3:227Blind5:098The Chain3:299An Eternity3:4710Spellbound0:3411Out of Focus5:18Disc 21The Girl I Love Is Gone4:332Far Away4:393Tomorrow3:584Only for You3:575Believe in Us4:396She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore3:477The Thrill Is Gone2:478Wonder Wonders5:439Alone Again3:5810My Mother's Grave3:0011She’s Mine but I’m Not Hers4:2112I’m Older Now2:52 was released on 2 May 2011. "Dilemma×Dilemma11 March 2011 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Dilemma2:582The Thrill Is Gone (acoustic 2011 version)2:47" was released as the album's lead single on 11 March 2011.
After Cockroach (2013), Opium (2015), and Bury The Hatchet (2017), Jay-Jay Johanson released Kings Cross. The name of the album is a reference to the London district where Jay-Jay had been based before starting his musical career. Kings Cross includes "Hear Somebody Whistle" one of his most popular recent songs. This song has been featured in the HBO show Foodie Love, Apple's Vision Pro ad, and also in the movie Eld & lågor (Universal Studios).
Jay-Jay shares a duet with Jeanne Added on "Fever".
While he toured all around the world performing in trio or with a full band, Johanson released Rorschach Test in 2021. The song "Vertigo×Vertigo4 March 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Vertigo (edit)4:082Vertigo (Mr X remix)6:00" was chosen by Ralph Lauren at the spring 2022 to be the soundtrack of the AW22 Runway in New York.
In July 2022, Balenciaga picked up "The girl with the sun in her eyes", a piano theme featured on the album Bury the Hatchet×Bury the Hatchet15 September 2017 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Paranoid4:522You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone4:113November5:234She's Almost You4:185The Girl with the Sun in Her Eyes2:446Bury the Hatchet3:527Snakes in the Grass3:458Advice to My Younger Self3:509An Empty Room4:3110From Major to Minor4:3511Wreck3:0712Rainbow6:1313Nightmares Are Dreams Too4:31 to be the soundtrack of the AW22 digital campaign.
For the first time Johanson, invited by Zemfira, performed at the Royal Albert Hall in November 2022 introducing for the first time the new songs of his upcoming album including "Finally×Finally13 November 2023 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Finally (Full version)3:582Finally (Hidden Operator Downer dub)4:243Finally (Interview remix)5:47" a ballad including the 3rd Brahms Symphony.
In March 2023, Johanson introduced "Empty Beds" his first art exhibition in Paris at La Hune and in Brussels at the Hôte Gallery.
In June 2023, his 14th album FETISH×Fetish9 June 2023 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Seine5:202Finally3:313I Did My Best4:154Jeopardize8:495Labyrinth4:126Puppet on a String3:467The Stars Align5:578Summer Night of Love4:579Andy Warhols Flesh for Frankenstein2:5610Happy Birthday3:24 was released, followed by a worldwide tour for the season 2023-2024.

Compilation albums

Prologue: Best of the Early Years 1996–2002 (2004)
3 Original Album Classics (2009)
Best of 1996 - 2013 (2013)

Soundtrack albums

La Confusion des Genres (2000)
La Troisième Partie du Monde (2008)

Documentary

Jay Jay Johanson by Michel Viotte (1999) https://vimeo.com/409467025