Elly Roberts reviews
Thomas Denver Jonsson: Barely Touching It
Distributed by
Kite
- Cat.no: KCD1080
- Released: February 2006
- Rating: 10/10
In the short space of about 5 years, Thomas Denver Jonssson
has dispelled the myth that Sweden only spawns great pop groups like Abba,
his countryman Jose Gonzalez: and IKEA.
Twenty six year old Jonsson who resides in
small-town Grums between Oslo and Stockholm, draws influences from M. Ward,
of whom he says, "His album Transistor Radio was my favourite album from
last year. It's a low-fi Americana kind of tribute to the old radio stations
in the States. It's certainly in my top 10 from 2005".
Other Americans have
a big part to play, as he revealed in a brief telephone interview, "I'm a
big fan of The Beach Boys, especially their melodies and harmonies. I've
also discovered Neil Young along the way. His 2000 album Silver and Gold is
excellent. Martha Wainwright is also very good. I think I need to check out
her brother Rufus as well."
Inevitably, due to his warbled vocal style,
comparisons will be drawn with early Neil Young; his harmonica work is
reminiscent of the master too. Together with working band The September
Sunrise: Fredrik Wilde, Carl Edlom, Tomas Lindberg, Henric Stromberg with
additional musicians Nina Kinert, Ned Oldham and Anna Sahl, the collective
have captured the spirit of freewheeling Americana to perfection.
From the lazy opening strums of I'm With You.., we're immersed into his
musical mindset, enticing you to discover more of his simple, easy but
effective repertoire. Just like the American terrain, there are sublime
peaks and valleys tantalisingly spread over 13 sumptuous tracks, lasting
nearly 50 minutes, during which time he opens - up his heart. With lines
like, "Do you know I keep losing weight, and my ears scream at night, as my
shirt still smells a little from your skin.." you know he's coming at you on
a personal level.
As a musical landscape, Jonsson isn't afraid to venture
forth into the indigenous genre using pedal steel, harmonica, glockenspiel,
accordion and regular format of guitars and drums. Most striking, are his
achingly beautiful vocals, bringing out the longing of the presentation.
Playing out his musical fantasies, he heads for the frontiers with
confidence on a sophisticated CD format, bringing out the best in
collection.
Strange that a Swede living in a relatively remote region of the country has
successfully pulled it off, on only his second full length album, originally
released in Sweden in October 2005.
'Shaky' would be with him all the way.
Top tracks - Time Stops When I Hold You, his dreamy duet with Nina Kinert on
Dreams At The Film Club and Reprise, A Day From A Year, Eyes Of Blue,
Working Star, Good Night.
Also check out
Hope To Her
from 2003.
The full list of tracks included are :
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
