Thomas Denver Jonsson resides in Sweden and has been dabbling with the lo-fi/altcountry genre since 2001. Signed now to a small independent label – Kite recording, and with his backing band - The September Sunrise, he has finally been given the tools to put together his debut album ‘Hope to Her’. With a slightly fractured vocal style that suits this form of music so well, he performs twelve self-penned numbers with considerable aplomb. He has toured with Damien Durado, and Rosie Thomas, (included with the press pack as a smashing live cut featuring both those artists). Indeed similarities to artists like Durado, Jason Molina from Songs:Ohia, Hayden and ‘Nebraska’ era Springsteen put him in great company and this is a set that deserves to get greater exposure than it is probably likely to.

The band performs with delicate precision. The touches of harmonica and pedal steel that supplement the simple outline sketches of guitar and vocal along with the reserved drum mix and occasional keyboard adds considerable heart to the set. Indeed as you delve deeper into the album, its elusive depth reveals itself layer by layer to expose a cleverly layered recording. The format for the album rarely strays from this understated structure, but then it has little need to, it is most definitely the sort of album that demands attention especially to the little details, which are carried off with considerable finesse.

The liveliest number “First in Line” opens up the set, a gentle country-rock stroll, which illustrates all that is good about the album. The vocals come across as sincere and emotive, little more than a whisper on times, with occasional harmonies drifting by. The harmonica is pure Springsteen, whilst the guitar solo is suitably restrained in terms of both the mix and its execution. “24 Seven” follows on with a duet with Jessica Magnusson that is as tantalizing and tender as they come. The better moments of this largely consistent set do tend to come with the more band orientated songs, where there is just enough drive and dynamism from the backing to carry the songs. “Long Life to Lose” is an excellent example of where all the threads tie up to form a beautifully complete form. Fredrik Wilde’s pedal steel really does add the crucial element to these numbers, without which there would be maybe just a little too much musical introspection. The touches that he adds accentuate the beauty sensitively hidden within each of these tracks. “Shades of Green” again reiterates this point, opening with a circumspect harmonica and guitar intro, the band drifts in soon enough to capture the songs before its lattice thin composition implodes into fragments. Having said that the astonishing “Pale” an unaccompanied vocal piece does contribute one highpoint of the set, where Jonsson’s vocal stands bare as the pain pours forth. “Road runner” for me is probably the most complete and satisfying moment on the album. Here the band gels wonderfully, the melody weaves its slight way and the overall effect is something that would be not have been out of place on Ryan’s moody ‘Heartbreaker’ debut.

Lyrically, I found much to commend, Jonsson’s ability to paint watercolour and pastel style pictures leaves plenty of room for interpretation, and the words fit the music (or vice versa) perfectly. Some cuts put me in mind of Matthew Ryan’s approach to writing:

Raining on the window
Meeting the hour of awakening alone
I wish she did too
Daybreak is a dying bride
Daybreak is a song you can’t hear
Daybreak is alone and starts to fall, falling
Down, down
Falling down, down”

…others call up a myriad of influences some of which have already been mentioned. However overall the effect is of a very individual expression of the man’s considerable talent in getting the written word and the musical notation to interact seamlessly – no mean feat!