Daniel Johns has returned to the top of the ARIA Charts with his second solo album, ‘FutureNever’, breaking several records for both this year’s charts and its all-time history.
The album – released on April 22 of this year – debuted at Number Two on the ARIA Top 50 Albums chart. It dropped to Number 11 the following week, before surging up to Number One in its third week.
Since then, ‘FutureNever’ has mostly remained a fixture in the chart’s top 20, with some ebbing and flowing in its overall popularity. It rose from Number 14 to Number Four in the week of June 6, then dropped off the chart entirely, returning 11 weeks later at, ironically, Number 11. It came in at Number 42 last week, booming up to Number One today (October 14) to chart above ‘The Highlights’ by The Weeknd and ‘Harry’s House’ by Harry Styles.
With the achievement, ‘FutureNever’ has become this year’s highest-selling album by an Australian artist, and the only one to spend two weeks at Number One. It’s also taken out the all-time record for the largest gap between Number One appearances, with 22 weeks between both of its placings in the top spot.
Responding to the news in a press statement, Johns – the cover star of NME Australia’s May 2022 issue – said: “To have FutureNever go to [Number One] on the ARIA Albums Chart twice in 2022 and spend [six] weeks in the ARIA Top 10 is amazing. Thank you to the incredible people who worked on this album with me and a very special thank you to everyone who has listened to FutureNever and helped spread the word.
“For an album with no singles and no music videos, I’m truly grateful that the music is speaking for itself.”
Also notable is that Johns has not performed a single live show since ‘FutureNever’ was released. It was announced last December, with no music from it released until the album itself arrived. Johns has instead promoted the album with his podcast, Who Is Daniel Johns?, as well as a three-part docuseries titled Inside The Mind Of Daniel Johns.
A short film, What If The Future Never Happened? – starring 6 Festivals breakout Rasmus King – will also premiere later this year.
Back in August, Johns launched Past, Present & FutureNever, an interactive art exhibition currently being held in Melbourne. It was set to close last Sunday (October 9), but as reps for the artist confirmed today, it’ll now remain open until December 23.
On his non-traditional promo campaign for ‘FutureNever’, Johns said today: “The ‘FutureNever’ multi-verse has provided me with a vast canvas to create immersive experiences that transcend a traditional release campaign. I wanted to show artists that there was a better way to do it than a desperate chase for a fleeting viral trend.
“I didn’t ever set out to have a ‘chart hit’ with FutureNever but I thought if I did the opposite of what the traditional music industry said I should do, there might just be something in that.”
In a four-star review of ‘FutureNever’, NME’s Andrew Trendell praised the album for the way it “shows off [Johns’] range”, writing: “While there’s a lot of Daniel Johns at his best here, this isn’t ‘The Best Of Daniel Johns’. There’s rock bravado throughout, but you won’t get a whiff of ‘Frogstomp’.
“Styles and eras clash, but ‘Neon Ballroom’ it ain’t. There is, however, a vulnerability, curiosity and adventure that makes ‘FutureNever’ unmistakably Johns. That kid who once asked you to wait for tomorrow is living in it today.”