On his latest album, the Murray Lightburn (The Dears) produced “The New Great Game” Andrew Johnston paints in broad, expansive brushstrokes, delivering 12 killer rock anthems for troubled times, with just enough redemption to keep hope alive. Growing up in Ottawa and now calling Montreal home, Andrew has had the great fortune of a career that has included work with some of Montreal’s finest including Richard White (Besnard Lakes), Rishi Dhir (Elephant Stone), George Donoso (Sam Roberts, the Dears), JF Robitaille and many more. “The New Great Game” is the sound of an artist earnestly aiming for the bleachers and holding nothing back. If a certain aesthetic of coy restraint has become fashionable within indie rock circles, this album grabs the listener from minute one and seems to earnestly proclaim that there is no time to lose; we must love now, yearn now, strive now: our dreams will live or die in this moment. Title track “the New Great Game” is indicative of the terrain we are in here. Starting with a Springsteen-esque piano figure that descends into a wall of carefully crafted 6 and 12 string guitars, “The New Great Game” careens into a chantalong breakdown section to make the Hold Steady jealous, before changing gears and sinuously weaving its way to a riveting conclusion of stacked vocals, wailing guitars and pounding drums. With lyrics such as “ain’t there somewhere we can go where it still feels right - ain’t there something we could say that don’t feel like diffidence”, it is clear that Andrew is in big picture mode, trying to make a statement about the hardships and cruelty of the modern world that still makes room for magic, a little romance, and the dreamer that is inside us all.