ALBUM REVIEWS

Loney Dear
DEAR JOHN
EMI 16.3.09
@www.vanguard-online.co.uk


This album landed in my lap without the usual press release – but a swift bit of research on t’internet (as they say oop North) reveals that Loney (not lonely as I had initially misread) Dear is the alter-ego of Swedish singer songwriter Emil Svanängen. Now it turns out Emil isn’t the traditional singer-songwriter type, and is nothing like the usual British version of that particular brand of artist. He certainly won’t be rolling up on any support slots for Take That’s stadium tour. He offers fragile, vulnerable vocals coupled with folky acoustic musings but harmoniously marries these with some sparkling electronica.

First track ‘Airport Surroundings’ has that breezy yet unhurried continental vibe – which chilled out Europeans (i.e. not the British) seem to do so effortlessly well; it’s a perfect backdrop to a summer’s day and could have been a cut from the last Phoenix album. ‘Under A Silent Sea’ opens with a beautifully understated melody; before morphing into a trance-inducing electronic beast - complete with Orbital style pulsating keyboards.

Many tracks are constructed around a beguiling blend of hazy languid beats and deep-seated desolation – and ‘Summers’, ‘Harm/Slow’ and ‘Violent’ are all unreservedly gorgeous for it. So it’s always an uplifting brand of melancholia rather than disheartening in any way.

Albums like this are why we all get into this topsy-turvy business – picking up something by an artist that you’ve never even heard of. The intrigue of inspecting the album cover and trying to imagine what the music inside could possibly sound like. The thrill of that first listen - as it dawns on you that this could be something rather special. That warm feeling inside when on the third or fourth listen the songs really begin to adopt a tranquil familiarity. Then the longing you feel when you find out that the artist has an ample back catalogue, and according to their reviews this new one isn’t even his best….

Steve Claire

www.loneydear.com