Andrew Sweeny

How to make Monotony a aesthetic concept? This is the improbable which Andrew Sweeny, in his title Montone suggests - with audacious coquetry. A concept i priory negative; but only i priory - in fact, this young Canadian songwriter describes the notion of mechanized repetitions as something other than boredom. Montone is the incessant rain on Paris rooftops, the trains that arrive in Gare St. Lazare, the masses of humans piled into the subways;Monotone is work, sex, time - as Sweeny writes in the the liner notes. And it’s a bit of everything that makes this hypnotic folk flow. Behind his deep voice, finger picking loops and swampy piano is the the mysterious vaporous silhouette of this author of enigmatic,mysterious verse: of choruses that sound like the prophetic words of a "poet maudite". The inclination towards dream and mystery recalls a distant memory of Nick Drake, not for the music itself, but for the
atmosphere that is revealed. This is the great force of this disk: that the songs,uplifted by the place its suggestive power, by the magnificent drizzle and fog of Paris at first glance, have the capacity to make tangible, something floating and intangible - something "hanging in the air" as Sweeny himself sings. Sweeny, by re-enforcing slowness and by repetition, expresses the inexplicable beauty of winter; of being suspended in a sort of timeless profound darkness, finally transcending monotony. The disk is certainly wintry and cold but in the deepest winter we find the most caressing warmth. At the same time, this album reveals itself slowly, its airs familiar and intimate, and finishes by totally embracing the listener, to the point of being the ideal companion for the long months to come. Winter at its most sublime.

Jean-Charles Dufeu-Popnews-Novembre 2005 - Jean-Charles Dufeu-Popnews-Novembre 2005

Autres directionsTop
With his first album, Sweeny happyily mocks the trend; his music is simple,sincere, and without the least scrap of artifice. From the most pure lineage of epicurean morning folk, in the style of the solo recordings of Kristin Hersch for example - the Canadian expatriate has the soul of a modern troubadour. He sings with his heart and soul, accompanied by a warm guitar and just the minimum instrumentation . Underlying the bare recording, is the not aways lighthearted poetry of Andrew
Sweeny, which is like bathing in a melancholy aura, the gift of a dreamer on a rainy day. However, Sweeny superbly avoids self pitying and even breaths a certain note of optimism in Night is Calm which is the "hit" of the album. Andrew Sweeny reassures more than he surprises and his choice of arrangements are simple, but Montone and diffuses a warmth, welcome in these winter months.

Denis Autres Directions-Novembre 2005

- Denis Autres Directions-Novembre 2005

A découvrir absolumentTop
How could I have ignored this disk for so long? How could I... ? From the first notes of "Blind River Seine" I felt a shiver, and the incredible voice of Andrew Sweeny could only open up a flood of tears from an unknown realm, as if sadness and melancholy could transport one to ultimate happiness. As sick as I am of the last snoring of the future Jesus Christ sanctified by the masturbators of fashion, Devandra Banhart, for example, here I am comforted by the songs that do not seem like the picture frame in a exhibition. In all 12 composition, each more beautiful than the last, Andrew Sweeny never looses the thread, never ceases to go beyond himself, he breaths like we rarely do, the wind,
life, our doubts, our suffering, our love and he give and gives again, gazing down at us, in a gesture that comes close to renouncing his own existence for us. Between Bind River Seine and the poignant Vanishing (the song of the year?) flow the minutes of supposed monotony, place where we are made to live, a fear our perception of our condition is far from that even of sheep. On the other side of darkness, Andrew Sweeny sees the light, but covers it in layers of fabric so that we don’t burn up - except maybe our wings. Finally, we remain never more full of desire to go beyond. A Masterpiece.

GDO A découvrir absolument-Novembre 2005 - A découvrir absolument

Psyche Van Het FolkTop
This is a singer-songerwriter item I prefered to listen to again and again. Each track is differently arranged, all perfectly suiting the song, mostly with piano and acoustic guitar combinations, but also with amplified guitar, and additional cello and one track with handpercussion. The piano/guitar combinations are melodically forming the compositions together, building up and
adding the right touches to the song melody. A few songs are slightly melancholic, in a revealing way. The singing holds the middle between artists like Pat Orchard, Greg Weeks, Jamie Barnes, Great Lake Swimmers and in two tracks Leonard Cohen without pushing this. A beautiful, recommended album.

Gerald psychevanhetfolk-January 2006 - Gerald psychevanhetfolk