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| Loney, Dear: Swedish Indie Artist |
Discount Bin
October 31, 2009 |
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I seriously want to live in Sweden. They have more indie-music artists per square mile than any other place on Earth! The Swedish music scene has slowly and steadily infiltrated the music world with acts like Jens Lekman, Peter Bjorn and John, The Cardigans, and The Hives.
And then there’s my favorite multi-instrumentalist, one-man home-recording wonder Emil Svanängen. He cooks little pop gems in his tiny Stockholm apartment. He has sold several thousand copies of his first three albums on CD-R on his website and other mp3 blogs. The artist plays shows under the cryptic nom de plume, Loney, Dear. He’s a lovable geek and I can’t seem to get enough of him and his folk jazz sound.
My first introduction to Svanängen was through his first studio album, Loney, Noir, released under the American indie label Sub-Pop Records in 2007. His reedy, almost fidgety, and charmingly yearning high-pitched voice is infatuating. He sings with his heart on his sleeve about relationships, love lost, and love found with piercing tenderness. Start listening to this album and you’ll wonder where Svanängen has been all your life.
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The disc opens with the fragile and delicate, ‘Sinister in the State of Hope.’ This is followed by the catchier, more upbeat, ‘I am John,’ possibly the best song to introduce Svanängen for those who haven’t heard him. It’s a beautiful piece that starts earnestly and doesn’t build up until the third part where all the magic happens. The pace quickens with the reverb of the drums and clarinet coupled with uplifting fantastic tenor vocals. It swirls for a good bit until it fades with the soft clacking of the drumsticks.
‘Carrying a Stone’ is a hidden masterpiece. Somber yet hopeful, the song feels like the sound of dawn breaking. Like light slowly streaking the sky, it starts on a steady yet brisk note and gains musical momentum with Svanängen’s humming to a crescendo in the background until it explodes and fades with the sound of drums, horns, organs, and sprightly woodwinds. I had goosebumps after listening to this song. Other captivating songs are “I’m the Odd One” and the wide-eyed and innocent “Saturday Waits.”
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Loney, Noir is an exhilarating album to listen to. It tugs at your heartstrings and Loney, Dear gives you all the goodness of joy, love, and even heartache with a track collection that starts calmly -- with just the voice and guitar until it swells sweetly with the harmony of pump organs, hand claps, and melodies that are at once effervescent and melancholy. This indie music artist is a breath of fresh air and his album is as elegant and endearing as an unexpected summer day shot with Lomo.
Rating: 4.5/5
- Meg Cabanes
Link: http://www.loneydear.com/
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