Loney Dear Write A Dear John

Sweden's Loney Dear have slowly but surely become one of the most prolific musicians around indiedom. Since their first record in 2003 (The Year of River Fontana) they've quietly built up his reputation as of of Sweden's best kept secrets garnering success by word of mouth rather than serious buzz. In the six years since their debut, they've gone on to record four more albums; one in 2005, 2006, and 2007, with the most recent, Dear John coming out this year. This latest album, Dear John,completes a five album journey of exploration and coming of age for Loney Dear and wraps it up in fine form.

Dear John may very well be the best Loney Dear album to date simply because it's the culmination of four albums experience rolled up into one. It's the album Loney Dear always had in them and it's finally poured out of them. It's a delicate, fragile, tender and sweet record that as the title suggests is the ending of a relationship. In a sense, the album serves as a love letter to to the band, if you will, a fond last hurrah to this chapter of groups career and a thank you for everyone who has come along for the ride. As a result, you can kind of feel the band just going for it as if it were really the last record they might ever make; it's as if they threw two sheets to the wind and came up with something that's absolutely perfect.
With songs that sound like the songs your best friend would sing to you when you are down, the songs that would haunt your brain at night, and the songs that reaffirm your life with a sense of hope, this is the kind of record that you want to give a hug to for just being there. Dear John is an intimate record with a big heart and it's just as likely to make you shed a tear as it is crack a smile and that's half of what makes it such a great listen. When you add in the bands quirky, lush, and warm instrumentation you have the other half of the puzzle sliding into place to make Dear John just about perfect.

I'm not sure what it is about Sweden, but the bands that come from there just have this uncanny ability to write pop songs that tug at your soul while putting a spring in your step. Loney Dear do just that and whether it's the happy sad whistling of, "I Was Only Going Out," or the muted horns of "Harsh Words," the songs of Dear John will leave their mark on you. Not many records can say that but Dear John can and that's why you need this record in your life.