...::: I'm Kingfisher // THE LAKE ACTS LIKE AN OCEAN REVIEWS UK :::...

REVIEWS - THE LAKE ACTS LIKE AN OCEAN (2007)

THE INDEPENDENT

Don't be fooled by the "Denver" in his name. He's all Swede. Not unless
you count Jonsson's feel for the more romantic tropes of American indie-folk.
Yes, Neil Young is traceable in his voice and in some of his melodies, but
really this is the fuzzy introspection of M Ward and his ilk: quiet choogling
in the face of a stand-offish, underwhelming nature. Why should you bother,
when there's such a lot of this stuff around? Well, the aforementioned tunes
can be lovely, as can the arrangements (strings and all); and Jonsson's Swedish
way with a meteorological/seasonal image is striking. "Stay pale and stay warm" indeed.

Download this: 'The Border': it's out there, you know

FURTHER proof Americana is a state of mind comes with the new album from this Swedish singer.
Against a backdrop of acoustic instruments, with pedal steel well to the fore, Thomas evokes
dusty trails and wide American skies.The Swedes seem particularly good at finding their musical
feet among the likes of Bonnie Prince Billy and this is a prime example.The delicate Only For
Beginners could almost be Bonnie Prince at his most tender, while the dreamy One Of My Blessings
again exhibits a rare lightness of touch. In a crowded marketplace, this album stands out. SC

Thomas Denver Jonsson "The Lake Acts Like An Ocean" (Kite Records 2007)

A truly independent recording best when it stays close to home

Thomas Denver Jonsson is the alias of Thomas Jonsson. Now I could be wrong but isn’t
the point of an alias to disguise your true identity? Just sticking Denver in the
middle just won’t do.

That aside, The Lake Acts Like An Ocean is not only independent in content, defying
easy labeling it’s also independent in spirit which is far more important. You take
Jonsson’s music on his terms or not at all. Although the latter may not be an option
once you’ve listened to it.

Jonsson seems perfectly at ease following a slice of gentle rock 'n' roll with one
that is essentially poetry with a backing track, so What I Dream finds itself jostling
for elbow room with The Border and Only For Beginners. The Lake Acts Like An Ocean is
at its very, very best when it’s at its most intimate, Like Friends Fully In Love is
deeply confessional and is a song so simply but powerfully told, that it feels surrounded
by an inky blackness.

It is matched in its intensity by Possession and She Runs In Slow Motion, when Jonsson cuts
he cuts deeply. He is a brave and incisive musician not afraid to let his songs fend for
themselves, with only minimal assistance all not only survive but thrive, The Lake Acts Like
An Ocean is not so much about the singer as the song. There are even two little gems of instrumentals,
The Tap Dancers Union is as light on its feet as its name suggests it should be while Sacha Distel is
one of those unforgettable moments when a musician sits down and plays with no thought for anything else.
You don’t have to listen too hard to hear the concentration and will that Jonsson expends on it.

With this album Jonsson closes off his music, it exists here and the magic it creates could
happen nowhere else.

Date review added: Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Reviewer: Michael Mee¨

This is one of the best albums you'll hear in 2008. Given the short attention span nature of
many folks these days it seems prudent to get the punchline out before the set-up. Mayhap now
you'll stay to let me argue the case of Sweden's Thomas Denver Jonsson, a singer-songwriter of
Bonnie Prince Billy and Cat Power proportions that's thus far flown below the radar of most in
the States. On a slow rising arc since 2003, Jonsson has made deeply grooved inroads into the
human condition, peeling away with poetry, melody and instrumental ingenuity the sticky layers
of relationships, perhaps most poignantly one's relationship to themselves and to love, in the
archetypal sense. At the risk of overloading his work with praise, Jonsson possesses an unerring
ability to make us sing our way into ourselves and one another, and he's never been more reverberantly
"on" than his third full-length, The Lake Acts Like An Ocean (Kite).

My moment sinks to the well
Please grant me your border
I revalue next step every single day
I lie next to the horizon
Your blue voice surrounds me
Guided by few, my grip bleaches
Your face is indulging
The border is rising over the trees
I hear it calling, calling for me

Strumming on a basement guitar and singing in a voice cracked, unvarnished feeling seeping
through the breaches in his burnished wooden pipes. Jonsson is a pure songwriter, choosing the
right setting, the right tones and colors, to fit each shifting mood. Where earlier releases
downplayed his diversity a bit, here he steps boldly away from folksy tropes, adding electricity
and rhythm with an assurance that echoes Iron And Wine's evolution the past few years. Lake contains
huge sweeps in mood, from the naked tenderness of "Only For Beginners" to the phosphorescent,
hold-your-breath shimmer of "Possession" to Townes Van Zandt-esque instrumental "The Tapdancers' Union"
to the ringing carousel twirl of "She Runs In Slow Motion." Rather than feeling scattershot, Jonsson
has crafted something cohesive, tightening each piece into sharp focus, with the whole feeling like a
series of beautifully constructed wide shots and close-ups.

The love his band, The September Sunrise, feels for his tunes is obvious in their patient nuances and
exposed emotion that matches Jonsson's innate honesty. Fredrik Wilde (electric guitar, pedal steel),
Tomas Lindberg (bass), Henric Stromberg (drums, percussion, vocals) and Carl Edlom (electric guitar,
piano, organ, percussion, vocals), who also produced and engineered Lake, deserve a healthy portion of
the credit for the overall vibe here. One would be hard pressed to find a more inviting records that also
dishes out this level of truth telling. Their intuition for arrangements and textures, down to the tuba
(courtesy of guest Anders Jonsson) that ushers out the final notes of "Love Campaign," speak of a collective
personal investment in getting these songs across. One feels that group energy throughout in these descendents
of Michael Nesmith's First National Band and Linda Ronstadt's early '70s bands.

For anyone flipping their lid for Bon Iver, South San Gabriel or other multi-faceted strummers of our shared
ache, The Lake Acts Like An Ocean is something special most fans of thoughtful rock will be richly rewarded by.
'Nuff said.

Someone you love has flown to the sea
For a better cause of the season
Down where the trees are made out of gold
Down within love campaign