Composer and guitarist Mike Johnson, co-founder of long-running American experimental Rock In Opposition band Thinking Plague, has announced his first solo album, The Gardens Of Loss (Cuneiform Records). The project presents an original, post-genre orchestral work rooted in both rock and western classical traditions and performed by an international electroacoustic ensemble.
The Gardens Of Loss features 19 musicians based in the United States (including Johnson and several Thinking Plague alumni), Canada (Kimara Sajn), Portugal (Nuno Mourão), Spain (Pau Sola Masafrets), Sweden (Simon Steensland, Morgan Ågren), and the Netherlands (Oene van Geel, Pablo Rodriguez, César Puente Sandoval, George Dumitriu). Johnson describes the music as “more orchestral in the 20th-century sense, while still incorporating some intensely ‘rock’ elements,” emphasizing that it functions as “a big electro-acoustic ensemble with many voices… very organic.” According to Johnson, all the tracks address “some kind of regret, loss, or threat of loss,” explicitly or implicitly.
Johnson co-founded Thinking Plague in 1982. The band has pursued the outer edges of rock, drawing heavily on folk, chamber music, and twentieth-century avant-garde classical traditions. Critics and fans often place the group within Art Rock, Avant-Rock, Avant-Progressive, and Rock In Opposition, alongside European peers such as Henry Cow, Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, and Present, who combine rock instruments with classical approaches and DIY aesthetics. Thinking Plague is frequently cited as a key American representative of Rock In Opposition, with music that can be heard as both post-rock and post-classical.
Johnson’s writing reflects his interest in harmonically adventurous twentieth-century western classical music, evident in ambiguous tonality and dense, rigorously constructed compositions. His electric guitar, with its hard-edged, mordant sound, functions as one voice within the ensemble rather than a dominant lead. On The Gardens Of Loss, orchestral instrumentation serves as a central structural pillar, a factor that sets this release apart as a Mike Johnson solo statement rather than a new Thinking Plague album.
Johnson shared this guide to The Gardens of Loss: “As some will know, most Thinking Plague music and lyrics over the years were written by me, and the band has essentially been my project since the mid-nineties. But for this album, I was hoping to be free of some of the expectations and assumptions that come with the name Thinking Plague. I wanted to try some different things, and take full credit or blame for the outcome. One of my main objectives was to make an album incorporating an orchestra, of sorts at least, which required me to employ a lot of new people, such as a string quintet, a new flutist, an oboist, bassoonist, trumpeter, trombonist, etc. And I wanted some different musicians in key roles – like Simon Steensland on bass and Morgan Ågren and Kimara Sajn on drums, and Jeremy Kurn on piano. In my mind, it wasn’t Thinking Plague. I know that some people will say it sounds like Thinking Plague, but what they should realize is that it sounds like me. Not to say that it’s literally more of the same. I don’t think it is.
“There’s a lot more, and more varied, orchestral instrumentation – real players; not samples. Sometimes, thanks to the “magic” of overdubbing, it will sound like a large orchestra. Other times you can hear various winds, reeds, brass and/or string ensembles of different sizes. Also, I think the eight song-pieces on the album have more varied styles and character – some quite a bit more accessible than typical Thinking Plague music, and some at least as complex and advanced as Thinking Plague . But the aesthetic is generally more orchestral in the 2Oth century sense, while still incorporating some intensely “rock” elements. It’s not “classical” orchestration pasted onto rock band tracks, rather, it’s integrated to sound like a big electro-acoustic ensemble with many voices. It’s very organic, I think.
“Anyone who has followed Thinking Plague will know that my subjects have mostly always been pretty dark. That’s because I feel it is my duty, sort of, to call out and respond to the injustices and environmental harms that seem to be so much of humanity’s legacy on planet earth. And in the current circumstances I think it’s more important than ever, although as a musical artist I don’t want to create mere protest songs or ideological “anthems.” Rather, I strive to express human emotions in response to what has happened or is happening – where things seem to be going.
“For example, the first track “Dies Irae,” which is Latin for Day of Wrath, expresses the fear of what might happen if the political situation develops a certain way in America – which it seems to be doing. I think it’s pretty obvious what I mean. Another example is the title track “The Gardens of Loss,” which deals with the bittersweet experience of nature’s beauty and the bereavement and regret one feels when they perceive that it is fading, dying as a result of human stupidity and greed. All the tracks deal explicitly or implicitly with some kind of regret, loss, or threat of loss, etc., although the track “Boys with Toys” takes a more facetious approach.
“I realize that the obvious question posed by my releasing this as a Mike Johnson album will be about the likelihood of another Thinking Plague record, and honestly, I can’t say for sure at present. I’m not sure where things are going from here. I intend to keep writing music, but I’m not sure yet for whom or under what circumstances. Although I do still have hankerings to do it.”
Musicianbs: Mike Johnson (guitars, lap steels, fiddle, fretless banjo, sampler-synthesizer programming & “pencil guitars”); Simon Steensland (bass except 7); Morgan Ågren (drums and percussion 3–6); Kimara Sajn (drums and percussion 1, 2, 8); Jeremy Kurn (piano); Elaine diFalco (vocals); Dave Willey (bass, drums 7); Bill Pohl (guitars 8); Elise Roy (flutes); Caitlin Hilzer (oboe, English horn); Nuno Mourão (bassoons 3); Mark Harris (clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone); Shane Endsley (trumpets); Jon Stubbs (trombones); Oene van Geel (violins, “concertmaster”); Pablo Rodriguez (violins); George Dumitriu (violas); Pau Sola Masafrets (cellos); César Puente Sandoval (double basses).
All music composed and orchestrated by Mike Johnson. Lyrics by Mike Johnson except for “Transience” by Elaine diFalco.
Strings and bassoons recorded by Björn Warning at Warning Studios, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Woodwinds and reeds recorded by Loren Dorland at Mighty Fine Studios, Denver, Colorado.
Vocals, drums, basses, guitars, piano, trumpets, trombones, oboes and English horn recorded “at home.”
Mixed and mastered by Colin Bricker and Mike Johnson at Mighty Fine Studios, Denver, Colorado.
Release date: January 30, 2026.