Eddie Johnston, aka Lontalius, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and producer who blends indie rock, contemporary R&B, and ambient music into something new. Across six critically acclaimed albums exploring themes of young love, self-discovery, and personal growth, he has established a distinctive, introspective voice and a reputation for emotionally resonant songwriting.

Over his decade-long career, Lontalius has performed extensively across New Zealand,Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States, playing his own headline shows and touring with Australian indie-pop musician Japanese Wallpaper and American emo/rap artist Nothing, Nowhere. Along the way, he’s won praise from BBC Radio 1, Dazed, The Fader, PopMatters and Stereogum.
Part of a generation of musicians who grew up online, while dreaming of bright lights and bigcities, Lontalius first gained international recognition in the mid-2010s for a series of Casiotone Top40 hip-hop and R&B covers he uploaded on SoundCloud. Collaborations with Ryan Hemsworth and a feature on the late Virgil Abloh’s Been Trill collective’s Electrolyte mixtape followed, leading to the release of his debut album, I’ll Forget 17 (2016) through Brooklyn’s Partisan Records.
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During the second half of the 2010s, Lontalius based himself in Los Angeles, where he collaborated with Grammy Award-winning producer Om’Mas Keith (Frank Ocean, Erykah Badu) and Jim Fairchild (Grandaddy, Modest Mouse). In 2019, his signature single ‘Sleep Through Ur Alarms’ beat the algorithm and broke out, earning him a significant global audience.
Over the last five years, Lontalius has released at least one, sometimes two albums a year through his PBWH label, alongside regular singles, EPs and even demo recordings. By taking the time to do the work properly, he has built a timeless catalogue with an emotional range that spans lo-fi bedsit intimacy, expansive stadium-ready pop singalongs, nocturnal balcony music, and the platonic ideals of ‘90s college rock. As the enduring power of his singles Comfortable, It’s Not Love, and All I Wanna Say, attests to, he’s here for the long haul.