Release Date: 6 February 2007 (Sub Pop)
Emil Svanängen records under the name Loney, Dear. He records the albums himself and plans to record 2 albums a year until 2009, when the project will end. He started out releasing his albums on CD-Rs and selling them himself. After doing that for a few years, Loney, Dear has been well received. Loney, Noir is lush sounding album. Emil's voice often jumps to his falsetto range on top of multi-textural songs. This album is addictive and sedative, beautiful and relaxing.
I Am John (mp3) [removed]
I Am John (video) [removed]
I guess most people would call me a workaholic. I’m at the office from about 8am until 6pm or so. Then I go home for dinner and spend the evening emailing my colleagues and reading reports while the TV plays in the background.
I’ve been pretty stressed out lately. It hasn’t been going well at the office. When you work as much as I do, people seem to think there is nothing you can’t do or that there is no limit to the workload you can handle. I’ve hit my limit.
A few weeks ago my girlfriend dumped me. She said I was “too much for her” and that I “wore her out.” For the past few months, however, she was suggesting I go to her therapist. I was reluctant for a long time. Between the stress of overworking and losing my girlfriend, I felt it was time to call Dr. Stevenson.
I should clarify. Dr. Stevenson is a hypnotherapist.
My reasons for being reluctant are tied to my stubbornness. I am a strong willed person. I’ve never believed I could be hypnotized. The doctor explained that people like me actually make the best subjects. His claim is that the most intelligent people, the most creative people, are usually the strong willed. Because of our active neurological connections, we actually make the best subjects. I wasn’t convinced it would work, but I figured it was time to give it a try.
I’m not sure I was hypnotized, but I know I took a nap. And that was something I needed. But two things have happened since the session with Dr. Stevenson. I’ve been talking to Karen a lot. And I have been listening to Loney, Dear’s Loney, Noir. I don’t know if Dr. Stevenson played the album while I was under his spell, but I can’t stop listening to it.
The album is full of great orchestrations. There are guitars, pianos, clarinets, flutes, and a rock band. It sounds like George Martin producing Sufjan Stevens, Blake Sennett, or Ben Gibbard. Emil Svanängen, the man behind Loney, Dear, often sings in a falsetto voice. The overall sound is mellowing and soothing.
The album starts with “Sinister In A State Of Hope.” That would describe my current situation with Karen. “All I want/ is a state of hope” but ultimately “You turned me down.”
A lot of these songs start with simple orchestration – an acoustic guitar or piano and vocals – and add the tiers of instruments. It’s amazing a man in his apartment or parent’s basement with headphones made this music. It sounds much larger than it is.
As I keep listening to this album, I am stuck thinking about my love life. Did I let my relationship with Karen end too soon? I pushed love away with my work ethics, but will I ever be able to balance the two?
I feel the urgency of “I Am John” and the spiraling, layered vocals of “Someone I want now/ Somewhere I want to go/ And I told you/ Never gonna let you down/ Never gonna let you down/ But I will always let you down.”
The “I am sorry/ Honestly, I am sorry” of “I Am The Odd One” or “I get things wrong/ and I’m not accustomed to this” of “I Will Call You Lover Again” are difficult to separate from my own situation.
I’m looking at my relationship with Karen with afar now. I’m talking to her and want her back, but it may be too late. I may have blown things. But I’m hopeful because we’re talking again.
I don’t know what Dr. Stevenson did to me in the 45 minutes or so that I was hypnotized during our first session. I wish I could tell you he played Loney, Dear’s Loney, Noir while he coached me on how to get Karen back in my life. I only know I can’t stop listening to this album. And I’ve begun to think about things besides work.
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