Lonely Dear

Loney, Noir (Sub Pop)

By Jonathan Shipley
Published: March 14th, 2007 | 3:03pm

Sub Pop Records is just so damn cool. Their stable of musical talent is so diverse and terrifically talented. Of course they’re the ones that brought to the forefront Nirvana, but since then they’ve branched out from grunge in all sorts of wonderful ways, from the Shins to Wolf Parade, Tiny Vipers to the Elected. Now, they’ve released Loney, Dear’s Loney, Noir, and it’s a sweet little album that starts quiet and humbled before expanding into richly textured songs with everything from guitar to clarinet.

Loney, Dear is essentially one man, Emil Svanängen, a Swede who grew up to the music of a-ha, Brian Eno, and Kraftwerk. Svanängen sings; Svanängen plays all the instruments; Svanängen records the songs in the basement of his mom’s house in Jonkoping (home of, incidentally, the Cardigans). In other words, Svanängen is a talent, and a conscientious one to boot (he records using a minidisk microphone and a set of headphones so he doesn’t annoy the neighbors).

A Swedish Sufjan Stevens of sorts, Svanängen offers affecting songs, using his voice in all sorts of quiet, intricate ways, including falsetto. “Saturday Waits” is a foot-tapping jolly song that brings a smile to your face for reasons you can’t quite grasp. “I Could Stay,” a bit Bright Eyes-esque, starts daintily with vocal and guitar strums, building with tambourine and the velvety strains of clarinet, and then crescendoeing with drums. So, thank you Sub Pop for exposing us to some great Swedish music, which generally is a bit of an oxymoron