Johannes Falk has one thing that sets him apart: his passion. He has an irrepressible desire to create, an urge to tell stories and sing, he wants to describe and he wants to share it with us. So that we can trace what it triggers. But most of all: just feel it. Real time. Whatever requires courage, whether from the artist or the fans. Because whether through his powerful synth and piano lines, with his anthemic hooks or the emotionally truthful lyrics - Johannes is not afraid of the grand gesture. Feelings are big. All. Always. Even if they are tender, intimate moments that are reflected in warm melodies, the emotions remain no less intense. "You can expect that from people. There's already so much softening going on - I just stand for something different," he announces without a trace of doubt. And only with this attitude could such a stirringly beautiful pop album like "From the beginning be there" be created.

Johannes didn't even expect to record another album. For several years he has focused primarily on writing for other artists. He was significantly involved in Laith Al-Deen's No. 1 album "Stay on the Road", was featured as an author on Peter Maffay's No. 1 album "Now" and has his first gold record as a co-author for Max Giesinger's successful album "Der Junge "who runs". Almost everyone already knows him somehow - without knowing it yet. And of course he could have made peace with this successful career behind the scenes, but Johannes, born in 1977, is not one to be easily satisfied - he struggled long enough to be able to be himself. Growing up in a strict religious community in a large Russian-German family and church community, he followed a long path to emancipation. At the age of 27, he finally began to study singing and songwriting at the Mannheim Pop Academy and thus realize his life's desire. In 2016 everything culminated in a first record contract, but internal company restructuring meant that his debut was unfairly lost in the oversupply after its release.

But then Corona came and reshuffled the cards of his life. Suddenly a promotion for a tour turned into a promotion for a new studio album. He threw himself headfirst into the project. Which for Johannes automatically means putting all his feelings on the table. "I'm an emotional guy - I wear my heart on my sleeve." He is able to describe very personal things in a very special way and weave them into song lyrics in a way that doesn't create an intrusive soul striptease. He doesn't have to call things and especially people by their names. "It's a mix of fiction and reality. The appeal lies in playing with real events." In this way, his songs are always universal despite their concrete stories and are able to make every person's own longings, wishes and fears resonate, as well as nostalgia and melancholy To give space to euphoria and hope. "It is these topics that concern me. And it's exciting to think about it all in the form of an album."

The first single "Always everywhere you" shows his approach in all its directness: it is a classic relationship song, a song about a past love. And how hard it seems to accept the fact that it's over. This is a person singing who has failed and just can't get away. No happy ending - just the truth. Plus this powerful, longing melody that sounds not only urgent, but completely haunting. And yes, you might even think of Chris Martin, back at the very beginning of Coldplay. This opens up a large thematic arc, because as Johannes sings in "I change myself": "I know the sound of dreams bursting". This song is perhaps even the central piece of the album, not only because it can be found in the middle of the tracklist, because there are many songs on "From the beginning there" that reflect the never-ending change. "I don't want to stop becoming," explains Johannes and he knows only too well what he's talking about. He is willing to take risks. Standing still and feeling nothing is definitely not the answer. Even if it means that he ends up "in a battle with all my feelings" again ("Giant").

A line in a Leonard Cohen song inspired him to ask the question: Does something have to break before something can be made whole again? "Cohen sees something positive in the break because the light comes in through it," says Johannes. It is the ambivalence between the stroke of fate and the beauty that can arise from it. That's why the song "Leonard Cohen" is not a childish homage to the master, but an example of what it feels like when your own life resonates with art. Just like the songs on "From the beginning there". Even a very simple longing, such as the universal need for freedom, for peace and for throwing off all burdens, finds space. Just listen to "Raus aufs Land" or "Neonblau", his homage to the mountains. "I love nature," he simply says. At the other end of the spectrum you'll find the dramatic strings and even a harp on "Flüchtiger Moment", a song that shows that no life is small. Almost like a play, a solo chamber play on an infinitely large stage, it puts the spotlight on a person and their greatness. Again John finds the universal in the individual, the eternal in the moment.

The end of the album is not a simple release into well-being, no matter how gentle and beautiful the melody comes across. Everything in these songs is too real for that: No lies please! So "Another Year Over", which will fittingly be released as the second single at the end of the year, can be sad, sentimental and melancholic. Johannes tells another story in the context of a relationship, "but the crucial thing is the feeling that time flies by so quickly. Every year goes by a little faster. And there you stand, slightly drunk, in the middle of the night and think: "Shit - another year has passed." Here too, it is important to allow the thought. Dare to feel what is inside you. As Johannes said at the beginning: You can expect that from people. This particularly affects his fans, who are definitely not afraid of it and have been through all the ups and downs with Johannes. That's why the title song is dedicated to them, among others - to them and to all other companions. A pop song as an inventory and as a thank you to the people at the same time.

In the end it becomes clear that Johannes Falk's passion is not just for his music, it is for life itself. "What runs through the album is hope and the belief that everything will be okay," he summarizes. "That you can grow with the challenges - and surpass yourself." He finds it positive that his life is not a straight line. Like with all of us. This is exactly what the album wants to give you the strength to do. And the courage to feel everything you encounter on this journey.