With rough tenderness, the Osnabrück musician Herr Svenson works his way through fantastic songs full of love and longing on his first solo album and sings about the stages of his life, about harbor bars, his child, about slumberland.
Musically, Mr. Svenson's songs vary between minimalist singer-songwriter aesthetics, melodic alternative vibes and complex arrangements dominated by percussion.
Mr. Svenson loves guitars, powered or not. Banjo, mandolin, bass, wurlitzer, darbuka and bendir. He plays with everything he can get his hands on. There are no drums here, instead body percussion and Arabic percussion. He gratefully leaves the piano to his musical companion Mr. Andreas Müller and on the accordion Matthes Wilhelm provides a melancholic flair.
The lyrics move between sincere, unkitsch declarations of love ('Sieben Lieben', 'Lied für mein Kind') and the desire for freedom ('Once more loose'). They alternate between sympathetic self-mockery ('Scheiß am Schuh', 'Große Liebe') and heartbreaking lovesickness ('She doesn't wait any longer', 'To the Stars').
This special mix makes 'Herr Svenson sings Liebeslieder' an impressive and genuine listening experience. And a roller coaster of emotions. Because the realization 'In my heart I'm a stray' is by no means just coquetry with any clichés for Mr. Svenson, but pure self-knowledge and the beginning of a long journey, the search for a home.
Mr. Svenson has just the right voice to tell these stories: barbed like old velvet, rough and scratchy at times, but always sensitive and authentic.
When he duets with the wonderful singers Anja Ricciuti ('To the Stars') and Rebecca Colen ('She's not waiting anymore'), it touches the listener to the core.
Songwriting, arrangements and production: In every detail you can hear the passion that Mr. Svenson put into his work. Great cinema for the ears. A favorite film in 14 songs that you wish would never end.
The album sounds absolutely timeless, but it is also a retrospective. In his own words: “I'm an old bastard with a new project. Some of the songs were written many years ago, but never suited my bands. I've wanted to record the stuff for a long time and now I've fulfilled it."
01 Seven loves
02 port
03 Go out again
04 To the stars
05 Great love
06 She's not waiting anymore
07 Oh Darling (song for my child)
08 Cold turkey
09 strays
10 Josephine
11 shit on the shoe
12 Still there
Bonus Tracks:
13 Sheila (2019)
14 Drunk (2016)
