I’d promised myself for a while that I’d feature the next release from Swedish artist Loney Dear, because he’s a musician that not only have I mentioned, but other Nordic artists we’ve interviewed have also referenced him as an influence. And I missed out on his Christmas themed song ‘Habibi (A Clear Black Line)’ by not being particularly organised, so it’s good to make amends with his new song ‘Trifles’.
Now obviously I did wonder mischievously whether ‘Trifles’ might be a song about his favourite dessert, and turns out there’s possibly a little bit of truth in this as he explains:
“The first verse's "concrete shoes" refers to when someone messes with the wrong people and get sunk in the water in Nybroviken, outside the theatre. We messed around with naming the song Trifles. It's a dessert. Or something too trivial to mention. Anyhow, do enjoy. This one is special to us.”
Huh? Drowned in the water in Nybroviken? And specifically outside the theatre? Trifles?
Anyhow, yes I did enjoy it very much. The tone of the piano just sounds lovely, maybe a hint of Debussy or Ravel, whilst the vocals gently carve out a gorgeous melody, that swells and builds gradually as the song progresses, and actually has quite a climax to it. Apparently they promised themselves ‘not to have songs that grew in the end’, which has really made me question myself, as I like songs that do exactly that.
Anyway, the good news it’s the 1st taster from an album e tilted ‘A Lantern and a Bell’, due for release in March, on Peter Gabriel’s label ‘Real World’. Now that will be special.