MP3: Loney Dear – “Airport Surroundings”
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:
“A devotee of elaborate pop from the Beach Boys to a-ha, Mr. Svanängen sings plaintive confessions in a tenor so high and sweet it’s almost androgynous. The melodies are exquisite, and with each verse he surrounds them with more and more parts, creating pop crescendos of dizzying ingenuity: whistling, harmonizing, stepping up the percussion, simulating horn and string sections, making synthesizers pulsate and flutter all around”–Jon Pareles, NY Times
“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, Svanängen 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
Sep 30 San Diego, CA @ Casbah*
Oct 01 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubador*
Oct 02 San Francisco, CA @ Slims*
Oct 03 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge*
Oct 04 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey*
Oct 06 Vancouver BC @ Biltmore Cabaret*
Oct 09 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry*
Oct 10 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge*
Oct 11 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop*
Oct 12 Toronto ON @ Horseshoe Tavern*
Oct 13 Montreal QC @ Il Motore*
Oct 14 Boston, MA @ Great Scott*
Oct 15 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom*
Oct 16 Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwells*
Oct 17 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas*
* = w/ Asobi Seksu
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