By Dennis Cook
Thomas Denver Jonsson & The September Sunrise: Hope To Her Who’d
have thought so much country comfort could emerge from Sweden? Jonsson’s
thickly rounded, quivering tones do marvelous things to English
syllables, taking the edge off sharp consonants, giving a softness to
phrases that’s dreamy. Hope To Her opens with a harmonica wind
that could have blown in from Neil Young’s Harvest fields. That sets the
stage for a cascading delicacy courtesy of his superbly intuitive band,
September Sunrise. With diamond days, gentle kisses, freeze frames,
muddy water and peels of lap steel this is the kind of music you reach
for when other sounds just feel like an assault. Jonsson sings with a
young lady on a few tunes and he syncs up so well with that feminine
energy that I hope one day finds his own Emmylou. An overriding
sweetness prevails on this auspicious debut, a collection with unforced
richness that one suspects will sustain over the seasons.
Thomas Denver Jonsson Web site
