ProStudioMasters.com

Loney dear, the vehicle by which songwriter and musician Emil Svanängen delivers his mini symphonies of off-kilter pop music to the world, has always been a intriguing mix of contradictions. Solo artist with a band name, multi-instrumentalist ‘marinated’ in jazz music who uses increasingly minimalist, electronic soundscapes to frame his songs, precise exponent of studio-craft and seat-of-the-pants live performer, gregarious and friendly Emil, yet reticent front man, hiding in low light. Nothing is ever quite what it seems with Loney dear. And nothing is quite what it seems with Atlantis, the first-ever live release by Loney dear. Recorded at one of Stockholm’s last great studios, from a golden-era of record making, Atlantis Studios inspired not only the name of the album, but provides the backdrop for what is unquestionably a live album, but one with a difference. This was April 2021 after all and global events are intervening. “We were only allowed to have eight people in the audience,” remembers Svanängen, “which happened that morning. The day before we could have had 50…” And it wasn’t just the audience missing in action. “It was a big crisis and I was super stressed about it, but it was a classic ‘show must go on’ situation. We didn’t even have the same people in the rehearsal who played the show. Emanuel (Lundgren – co-producer) was supposed to be part of it, but couldn’t be there as his kid arrived early and it wouldn’t have been a wise choice for him to be around people at that point. Someone else was sick and one of the most important players in the performance was only given the okay one hour before we started recording. Per Texas (clarinet) even got a puncture going to test Mattias (Ståhl), the vibraphone player!” The song choices are largely culled from Loney dear’s last two studio records, A Lantern and a Bell and Loney dear, but older songs such as Largo and Maria Is That You? (from Hall Music) and Violent (from Dear John) also feature, given renewed energy by the ensemble of Per Texas Johansson (clarinet), Mattias Ståhl (vibraphone), Johan Lindström (pedal steel), Johan Graden (piano), Josef Kallerdahl (bass) and Konrad Agnas (drums).