Eric Johnson premieres two new songs, Move on Over and To Be Alive

Electric guitar king Eric Johnson has premiered two new singles, one from each of his twin upcoming albums.

From one of the LPs – The Book of Making – Johnson has released To Be Alive, a piano-driven – with some moody atmospheric guitar interjections here and there – number featuring Brian May protege Arielle on vocals.

To Be Alive, Johnson explained in a statement, "was a song I wrote years ago but never had any lyrics for. It was recorded a couple years ago after Arielle wrote some very nice lyrics for it. I’m a big fan of her voice and I love the way she sang the song."

You can hear the tune below.

Yesterday Meets Today's Move on Over, meanwhile, is much tougher and bluesier, with some of the guitarist's typical fluid leads but also some funky, high-gain rhythm work.

The song, Johnson says, is "a variation on a John Lee Hooker riff, and I just added some vocals that would talk about getting out of the way and letting the universal spirit flow through you. It was actually a live track from an Alien Love Child [a Johnson side project] gig."

These two tracks are the third pair of singles Johnson's released from the albums to date, following Sitting on Top of the World and Love Will Never Say Goodbye in May, and Soundtrack Life and Yesterday Meets Today in April.

The Book of Making and Yesterday Meets Today each feature nine tracks, and are set for a July 29 release via Blue Élan Records. You can check out their covers and respective track lists below.

To preorder the albums, visit Blue Élan's website.

Eric Johnson – The Book of Making:

1. Soundtrack Life
2. Floating Through This World
3. Love Will Never Say Goodbye
4. Bigger Than My Life
5. Just To Be With You
6. To Be Alive
7. Another One Like You
8. My Faith In You
9. A Thousand Miles

Eric Johnson – Yesterday Meets Today:

1. Move On Over
2. Yesterday Meets Today
3. It’s Just The Rain
4. Maha
5. Hold On To Love
6. Sitting On Top Of The World
7. Dorsey Takes A Day Off
8. JVZ
9. Until We Meet Again