MP3: Loney Dear – “Airport Surroundings”
The Polyvinyl Record Co. recently announced the signing of Sweden’s Loney Dear, who will release its new album, Dear John, on the label this past Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009. The band launches its biggest U.S. tour to date tonight in Northampton, they’ll meet up with Andrew Bird for the first time the following night in Boston. The majority of the tour finds the band opening up for recent Billboard Top 200 heavy-hitter Bird, with a few headlining shows of their own along the way, including NYC, Baton Rouge, Houston, Denton, Visalia and Chicago — they’ll also be hitting SXSW. The first music video from Dear John, for the song “Airport Surroundings” was unveiled recently – it was directed by Marcus Söderlund who has also done videos for Jens Lekman and The Tough Alliance.
Hailing from the small city of Jonkoping, Sweden, Loney Dear’s primary member Emil Svanängen first began making homemade recordings of delicate, folkish indie pop in the early 2000s. As Loney, Dear (the band has since deleted the comma from its name), Svanängen self-released three homemade CD-Rs through his website: River Fontana Redux, Citadel Band, and Sologne. As buzz developed through MP3 blogs and other new media manifestations, Sub Pop offered Svanängen a contract in 2006. The first proper Loney Dear album, Loney, Noir, was released in early 2007.
Svanängen describes Dear John as a “marvelous album in dark shades with a lava-like glow from underneath.”
Praise for Loney Dear:
“Despair has never sounded so sweet.”–SPIN
“Svanangen’s captivating ruminations sound as if he’s trying to capture the purest essence of joy, albeit with a melancholy underbelly. It’s that bittersweet warmth that makes Loney, Dear’s hushed, pastoral folk songs seep into the heart.”–NPR
“He wraps the ups and downs of a whirlwind romance into tiny packages. You’re left hungry, fully certain that 34 minutes– let alone five– will never be enough of this very, very good thing.”–Pitchfork
“Through soft layers of acoustic instrumentation and vocal harmonies, Svanangen creates a sustained and lasting representation of the classic emotions of regret, peace, and loneliness.” –PopMatters
“Svanängen’s bright falsetto holds his miniature musical tapestries together.” –Austin Chronicle
LONEY DEAR
01/29 Northampton, MA Iron Horse
01/30 Boston, MA The Orpheum*
02/02 Richmond, VA The National*
02/03 Washington, DC The 930 Club*
02/04 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse*
02/06 Orlando, FL The Plaza*
02/07 New Orleans, LA House of Blues*
02/09 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon
02/10 Houston, TX Rudyard’s British Pub
02/11 Denton, TX Hailey’s
02/12 Austin, TX The Paramount Theater*
02/13 Albuquerque, NM The El Rey*
02/14 Tucson, AZ The Rialto*
02/15 San Diego, CA Soma San Diego*
02/17 Visalia, CA Howie and Son’s Pizza
02/18 Los Angeles, CA The Orpheum*
02/19 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore*
02/20 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore*
02/21 Portland, OR Roseland*
02/23 Seattle, WA The Moore*
02/24 Boise, ID The Knitting Factory*
02/25 Murray, UT The Murray*
02/26 Denver, CO The Ogden*
02/27 Omaha, NE Slowdown*
03/01 Chicago, IL Schubas
03/18 – 03/21 Austin, TX SXSW
* = w/ Andrew Bird
Loney Dear
Dear John
(Polyvinyl)
Street date: Jan. 27, 2009
1. Airport Surroundings
2. Everything Turns to You
3. I Was Only Going Out
4. Harsh Words
5. Under a Silent Sea
6. I Got Lost
7. Summers
8. Distant
9. Harm
10. Violent
11. Dear John
LONEY DEAR LINKS:
MySpace: www.myspace.com/loneydear
Press Materials: www.polyvinylrecords.com/press