"Having all of this in a body of work, I feel like the album rounds out the last few years of my life in a way."
Born out of late-night writing and recording sessions in his bedroom, I'll Forget 17 is unapologetically sad pop music. Johnston opens a window into his thoughts and relationships with a nuanced vulnerability, backed by the rise and fall of his emotive guitar-led compositions.
"I was never a really social person in high school - on Friday nights people were out and I was in my bedroom," he says. "I've been kind of obsessed with that emotional, 3am, alone-in-your-bedroom reflection and introspection. I really love that feeling and I love putting it in music."
Talking Heads' legendary frontman David Byrne once said, "The better a singer's voice, the harder it is to believe what they're saying." Lontalius' unassuming, sometimes flawed vocals give the album a sense of frank fallibility, evoking the type of emotion often absent from the robotic, hyper-perfection of mainstream pop.
"I love honest music. I love hearing something when you can tell it's someone's real feelings. That's the response I've gotten with my music - is that people relate to it a lot more if I'm being more honest."
The attention Lontalius has been receiving is symptomatic of the rapidly changing musical landscape. Thanks to free music platforms Soundcloud and Bandcamp, unsigned artists can post songs online and go from obscurity to critical darlings in 24 hours. Lontalius first gained attention posting lo-fi covers of Beyonce and Drake on Soundcloud, garnering hundreds of thousands of plays and hype from influential music blogs and culture magazines in America.
Johnston says because of this unusual career path, he doesn't feel like a typical 'Kiwi musician'.
"My biggest musical influences and my biggest musical opportunities have come through the Internet. It's this community that's been created around Soundcloud and Bandcamp.
"The people who listen to my music most are from the US - New Zealand's at the bottom of the list."
After cementing his status online as a musician-to-watch, 2015 shifted gear. He signed a deal with New York label Partisan Records, and travelled to the US and England to record I'll Forget 17 and play shows.
If Johnston's incredible musical prowess wasn't clear through his work as Lontalius, his other musical moniker, DJ and producer Race Banyon, is arguably more successful. He has played summer festivals around the country including Rhythm and Vines, Splore, Laneway and Northern Bass, as well as travelling to the US and France after being handpicked as one of just two New Zealanders to go to the Red Bull Music Academy in Paris.
But for now, Race Banyon has taken a back seat.
Johnston's set to play a sold out album launch party at Auckland's Las Vegas Club tonight, and officially releases the album tomorrow.
But he's not taking time off to bask in his achievement. He has already starting writing his second album, which he said will be "a bit more production-focused".
"The band thing was kind of rounding out my teenage years - indie bands were the first music I really fell in love with. Because for so long I'd been making music with the hope that one day I could be in the studio and have a drummer, that's what I wanted to do."
But as for the lyrical content, Johnston says he's committed to the openness he feels makes his music special.
"It's my number one thing really - to make honest music. I just feel more comfortable making something that's truly myself."
