TLOBF Interview :: Loney, Dear

As we publish this interview, news reaches TLOBF that Dear John, the long-awaited new album from Swedish singer-songwriter Loney, Dear (Emil Svanängen, as he’s known to his nearest and dearest) is complete. The long, hard slog of home recording is over; countless versions of songs discarded in search of the perfect take. Emil is a self-confessed perfectionist. When we chatted back in July, he talked about the intense pressure he puts himself under when recording music. Svanängen takes the recording process extremely seriously, spending lonely hours crafting perfectly formed pop songs like a patchwork blanket, with little or no help from outsiders. Layers are added, tweaked and removed until the perfect version reveals itself.

In this exclusive interview, Emil chats for the first time about his new record, the recording process and the pressures of releasing an album for the first time under the scrutiny of a much greater critical eye. (His last release, Loney, Noir, was his major label debut but had been self-released the previous year.) Svanängen also hints, in his usual cryptic manner, at what the future has in store for Loney, Dear.

For those of you who are eager to see Loney, Dear return to the live circuit, we are thrilled to announce that Emil will be flying over to play a solo show at our ILL FIT club night at the Old Blue Last in London on December 8. What’s more, entry is totally free. Keep your eyes peeled on the site for more details.

Hi, Emil. Last time we spoke properly was at the Wireless Festival on the Bella Union bus. Maybe it was the first and last time you’ll ever play a show on a double-decker bus… how did you find it?
It was a wonderful night after all, but it felt like a mishap in the beginning! I really like Simon (Raymonde, Bella Union founder), who booked us, really really like, but at first it felt like a disastrous festival. But it turned out to be a nice memory.

Wildbirds & Peacdrums did a wonderful job of backing you up. I take it you guys are pretty good friends?
We are good friends now. Love them. I met Andreas the first time ever when he showed up for a tour with us in Glasgow. I just knew he was spectacular. We didn’t have to even practice before the tour.

That was last year, when Ola was busy with other projects?
Exactly. I’m happy he was, wouldn’t have met the wonderful Andreas otherwise.

Mariam too – she has a real talent.
Extreme talent.

So the new songs seemed to go down really well – especially “Titans”. That’s a personal favourite of mine. From what I’ve heard anyway.
You will love “Airport Surroundings”. I’ll have to send it to you.

Please do! I’m looking forward to hearing all the new songs. How is the album going? Still hard at work, I take it.
I’m finishing it every day.

Haha – for sure.
No, actually, it is close. I would say I won’t touch 8 or 9 songs out of 11.

I remember reading on your blog something about August 11 for a deadline! I take it that went out the window.
I know, it was the labels. They’ve been pretty slow on responding so this is more extra time for me. I was finished in some ways by the 11th, but the songs sound better to me now. Much better.

Ever the perfectionist…
I know. I thought a lot about what we were talking about at Wireless. I realised the problem is that I’m not a very good mixer and engineer. That’s why I have to spend all that time. I hope I won’t do any more changes now.

What I meant about the whole perfectionist thing, with “River Fontana” for example, is that the original version seemed so organic – it had a real charm to it. But you ended up rerecording and rereleasing the entire album as you became more savvy in the studio, more confident…
That is true. I love it now and didn’t love the old one, so for me it was an easy decision. The good thing about these modern times is that all the versions can coexist.

So would you say you prefer the remixed version? The “River Fontana Redux”, as it’s known.
It makes me feel good. Yes. I guess as a fan I might like the old one better.

How do your relationships with your friends and family change when you’re making a record? You obviously throw yourself completely into it and immerse yourself in the task in hand. Do people close to you find that difficult to cope with, or do they just leave you alone?
Actually, it’s a pretty open process. I tell everyone what I’m doing and everyone (say parents and girlfriend) knows about the snare drum and whatever is being done. I’ve been waiting for a mastering date for a while so I’ve become pretty lazy lately.

In terms of sound, what would you say Dear John sounds most like? Are you continuing with the Loney, Noir feel?
It’s darker. It’s meant to sound like you’re staring into a lamp, but with transparent red, blue, green, perhaps yellow plastics before the lamp, like dark but glowing colours.

Sounds interesting… so there are no “I Am John” moments of euphoria?
“Airport Surroundings” is joyous.

“The City, the Airport” part two, perhaps?
Like the long-haired big sister to the obvious cute younger sister of “I Am John”.

I take it it’s to do with last year’s constant touring schedule, constant airport surroundings?
No.

Oh!
It’s the airport surroundings you reach on a bike living close the aiport. It’s not me at the airport, it’s more of a feeling about other people leaving, I guess.

The only finished track I’ve heard – “Violent” – I think I said to you when I first heard it that it has a darker, more insular feel.
“Violent” is the strangest song on the album. I think you might like how it has grown since you heard it. A bit warmer and more “motherish” now. I really like the lyrics.

Speaking of lyrics, would you say there is a specific lyrical theme that runs throughout the record?
I’ve become a little more interested in the dream state, the underwater world. Not literally but somewhat close.

How have you found writing and recording this time around? It must be weird – even though it will be your fifth album, it will be your first in the public eye, so to speak, after the huge success of Loney, Noir. Do you feel any pressure?
Yes. A big pressure this time. But I knew that three years ago, even before Noir was released. So the big pressure has never been examined. But I’ve felt really bad about it and really needed to find the space, both in time and space, to finish it. I’ve learned a lot. I thought Dear John was going to be the crown of the records, but maybe it won’t be. It would be a great relief to get good feedback on the album. But it was the first one I made with the knowledge that anyone would listen. I started making songs for it even before Sologne was released properly back in 2006.

Dear John has always been there in the distance, hasn’t it.
Yes. I now have realised maybe it’s not that important to make the perfect album.

I think as an artist you will always find holes in your work, no matter how perfect something happens to be to someone else.
I have more reasons to live than that. What I admire about other artists isn’t that they have made five consistently great albums. I admire others for what they do live, or for a certain song.

I’ve never read much about your love for other people’s music. Who are your main influences?
At the moment, Wildbirds and Peacedrums, JS Bach – or at least thinking of him. With a lot of the artists or composers, I get much more from thinking of them than actually listening to them.

So you’re not one to sit and listen to other people’s music – you prefer to create your own.
Yes, I prefer to create it. It makes me like myself!

But as a songwriter, who did you look up to when you were starting out? Who made you want to start this journey?
My early inspiration was some Swedish jazz pianists. I really enjoyed the British Depeche/U2 music. Not all, but some parts really struck me as a kid.

So you were an ’80s kid like me? I grew up on Depeche Mode.
Actually, my friend Gustaf had a big brother listening to Depeche, Kraftwerk, Cat Rapes Dog, etc. I think the futurist thing struck me. And the melodies. I was crazy about tech stuff and felt drawn to the synth world.

There are some great electronic bands coming out of Sweden at the moment. Air France, the Tough Alliance, Studio…
They are amazing. I never listen to them but think of them a lot. What’s the thing with Studio? I’ve only heard a sampler.

They’ve just released a new record, Yearbook 2. It’s a collection of their remixes and stuff. It’s very good. Sounds like early Factory Records from over here. You know – New Order, etc…
Is it really that melodic?

They have a funny sound. Very progressive – the songs are often eight minutes plus and they grow like dance songs – but they have a real heart. You should check out the album from last year, Yearbook 1. I think you’d enjoy it.
I will. For the first time in history, there is more music than we have time for. That wasn’t the fact even ten years ago.

The internet has a lot to answer for!
Yeah, but I like progress.

Back to the album – your previous records have all been recorded with minimal input from others. Has it been the same this time round, or have you had a helping hand from the guys in the band?
All by myself.

Drums and everything?
Drums, yes. Some things felt stupid not to change, but it was a rough chance for me. Suddenly I was in a situation when flying with our instruments cost as much as my studio did, say £300. It made me start buying things instead of seeing money go away on overweight luggage. It’s been a super difficult transition. I really had my ways of working and I had a year of anxiety, not knowing every piece of the tools. I hated it. At times I really wished I had started working on regular stuff.

So you basically taught yourself how to play all these new instruments. Why not call on your friends?
Taught myself to play them again.

You kind of forgot how to play after being on the road for so long?
Yes. Why not call on my friends? I guess it kind of started in the situation of having to survive economically on making music. I didn’t want to get in a situation where I felt I didn’t own the record. I know it’s a bit strange. I hope it’s going to change. I won’t mix the songs I produce in the future, when I can afford to hire someone else’s ears…

So do you see a future after Dear John? You’ve said in the past that this wil be the last Loney record.
I’m trying to buy a double bass. It’s really difficult – you just don’t go to the gas station and buy one, not on eBay either. I hope I can find one. I got a room to rent and I’m hiring a friend to isolate it. That will be a nice new beginning for new music.

Surely Oskar has one going spare? Being the jazz king and all.
Oskar has started a company called Billy the Bike Broker. We’ll see what he can do – if he can be Billy the Bass Broker as well! Back to the records – this is interesting. Every time I finish an album, I feel like making the next one a really soft, really acoustic album. This is what I hope for again. I’m looking at the Dear John catalogue as a pentyk or whatever it’s called. Aaah, I just thought of the proper word – polyptyk. But pentyk is more specific! I see the five records as an entity that belong together. Maybe Dear John is the last album in that specific way. At least for a while. Think of the title, Dear John, kind of saying goodbye. You are going to love the cover picture. I had to call NASA in the States to get ahold of it!

So it’s not necessarily the end of Loney, Dear?
Definitely not!

Just of this particular group of albums.
Maybe not even that. I hope I’ve just got back into march speed and will get up in pace now, so nothing is to be said yet.

Would you ever consider recording an album in a more traditional sense? Heading into a studio with your band, with a producer and engineer at the helm?
Yeah, I would love that. I wouldn’t just go to a studio with the live band, but l’d love to work with someone else soon.

Are you still recording in your parents’ basement?
I got my first real home in December 2007, so most of what I have recorded since then (or not recorded, when I was slow) was done in Stockholm, where I am now. But this summer I did some in the house on the Sologne cover and in my parents’ basement as well. I hope I will do it all in Stockholm next time, in my new room – in a basement.

So where is the house on the Sologne cover? I always thought that was your parents’.
It’s around Gothenburg. Better keep it a bit secret.

Haha! Sure, else you’ll have all sorts turning up.
Ha! I don’t think so, but maybe? It was my grandparents’ house, but now it’s my parents’ second house or summer house. Rich Western civilization…

Away from the record and Loney, Dear in general, how does Emil Svanängen fill his days? What kind of stuff do you get up to outside of the music world?
It is actually difficult right now. I don’t know what I do! I read a lot, listen to books and interviews. I am very, very in between things.

mp3:> Loney, Dear: “I Love You (In With The Arms)”
mp3:> Loney, Dear: “The City, The Airport”
Both songs taken from Sologne, out now on Something In Construction records.

video:> Loney, Dear: “I Am John” (Live at Lowlands Festival 2007)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGxN6gXbPgU