Thomas Denver Jonsson "The Lake Acts Like An Ocean" (Kite Records 2007)

A truly independent recording best when it stays close to home

Thomas Denver Jonsson is the alias of Thomas Jonsson. Now I could be wrong but isn’t the point of an alias to disguise your true identity? Just sticking Denver in the middle just won’t do.

That aside, The Lake Acts Like An Ocean is not only independent in content, defying easy labeling it’s also independent in spirit which is far more important. You take Jonsson’s music on his terms or not at all. Although the latter may not be an option once you’ve listened to it.

Jonsson seems perfectly at ease following a slice of gentle rock 'n' roll with one that is essentially poetry with a backing track, so What I Dream finds itself jostling for elbow room with The Border and Only For Beginners.

The Lake Acts Like An Ocean is at its very, very best when it’s at its most intimate, Like Friends Fully In Love is deeply confessional and is a song so simply but powerfully told, that it feels surrounded by an inky blackness.

It is matched in its intensity by Possession and She Runs In Slow Motion, when Jonsson cuts he cuts deeply. He is a brave and incisive musician not afraid to let his songs fend for themselves, with only minimal assistance all not only survive but thrive, The Lake Acts Like An Ocean is not so much about the singer as the song.

There are even two little gems of instrumentals, The Tap Dancers Union is as light on its feet as its name suggests it should be while Sacha Distel is one of those unforgettable moments when a musician sits down and plays with no thought for anything else. You don’t have to listen too hard to hear the concentration and will that Jonsson expends on it.

With this album Jonsson closes off his music, it exists here and the magic it creates could happen nowhere else.

Date review added:  Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Reviewer:  Michael Mee
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