Jonna Lee

This is Jonna Lee” is the second album from this Scandanavian chanteuse. Continuing the stream of unstoppable quality pop from the Razzia hit factory. Check out “My High”. It’s like what mighta happened if Carole King had written “I’m Waitin’ For The Man”. In terms of melodramatic popular song, they don’t come much more sophisticated than these. It’s not high octane but more slow burn.

The kind of thing that you’ll casually overhear and wonder what the heck it is like an itch. This will eventually turn into a rash as the songs wash over you. There’s an understated swing to the undertow of “Newfound Friend” that’s way cooler than any Aimee Mann song I ever heard. “The Light” appeared late last year on the “This War” EP. It sounds like it’s been a bit buffed up from that outing.

The quiet assuredness works in a way that bludgeoning never could. Jonna and her crew have fashioned a wee gem that will surely infiltrate the hearing gear of anyone with ears. Be nice to see and hear how it works in a live setting, hopefully the UK will get a chance to do so in the not too distant future.”

Lindsay Hutton - Lindsay Hutton, The Next Big Thing

Jonna Lee
Album: This is Jonna Lee
Label: Razzia
Rating: 4/5


The swedish indie label Razzia is a rare example of that true commitment and love of music and care for the signed artists also can be financially rewarding. The successful albums with Maia Hirasawa and Hello Saferide both sold gold in Sweden. Numbers that major label signees rarely do.

With her new album, Jonna Lee from Linköping now plays in that same division. With a foundation of her acoustic guitar Jonna Lee makes passionate, rough pop that makes you think of the Cure. Something that seperates her from other singer/songwriters

Most importantly, Jonna Lee has THE song. The piano hammering "My High" has all the potential to become a world hit, even if it probably would have been a good idea to name the song "You mean nothing to me now", wich is the hook of the song.

Anyone that has heard and seen Jonna Lee perform this song will ever forget it. "My High" is a classic "I'm fine without you now"-song with the same universal power as the break through songs of Alanis Morisette

Jan Gradvall
- Jan Gradvall, DI

Jonna Lee
"This is Jonna Lee"
(Razzia/Bonnier Amigo)
REVIEW POP. 4/5

The talanted Jonna Lee from Linköping is only getting better for every record.
Jonna has grown and can now be compared with singers like Nina Persson from the Cardigans and the songs aren't far from either.

From the fragile and sensual singer/songwriter songs, where a cool sense of melancholy is the main ingrediance, to some fantastic pop
cascades that I can't stop listening to.

Try "There was me", My High and "In the mood for you" and chancesvare you're hooked!
- Nerikes Allehanda

Sometimes you get the utter most glamorous mission to write about your daily mail. When you receive "This is Jonna Lee" in your mail, that is one of those rare occasions.

The debut "10 pieces, 10 bruises" from 2007 was something quiet but beatiful. "This War EP" was released in the fall of 2008 with increased strengtha and hopefulness and now, everything just seems right.

Soft acoustic guitar. Magical glockenspiel. Mellow bassline. Bright piano. Ticking clocks. Most happy: "In the mood for you". Grooviest: "My High". Waltzy: This is 2009". Coolest: "The Light". Most thoughtful: "Question". Most beautiful: "Lake Chermain".

Jonna, Jonna, you are true, you are pop and it's so amazing!
The record flows and is just how open, warm, mellow and happy as I want it to be.
entioning Annika Norlin (Hello Saferide) as a reference feels somewhat obvious as she sings back up on some songs together with Andrea Kellerman (Firefox AK) but the feelings I get reminds me of the total satisfaction I felt when I first heard "Introducing" by Hello Saferide.

A record where all the songs shine just as bright, where the melodies are healing and you long to listen to.

Anna Gustafsson - Groove magazine

Review POP
4/5

It's like Jonna Lee's melodies follow you through your daily life. They flow, they embellish, they are simply pleasant.
This in a cozy way, good for your blood stream, catchy and recognizeble.

One enters a world of small melodies, pretty stripped down but still full.

Her music reminds you of early Cardigans, a little Nina Persson-like, intimate vocals. She describes the album as a little punk-ish in a acoustic way and somewhere in beteween lies the truth

It's pop, but also singer/songwriter with a sense of 70's but sometimes 90's pop.

Åsa Carlsson - KB

Jonna Lee has changed her sound since her debut album. From a stripped down sound that breaths the Beatles to a more distinct singer/songwriter like sound.
The similarity to A Camp's Colonia is huge. Jonna Lee'sz voice is just as fragile. But the important difference is that "This is Jonna Lee" is about a thousand times better.

I like how Jonna often sounds so fragile but with such a power and character in her voice.
A very few singers have that talent.

"This is Jonna Lee" is also a very fitting title, 'cause you don't get more personal than this.

Intimate and dreamy but at the same time with so much self confidence. There is no doubt. This is Jonna Lee.

Best tracks: ”Something so quiet” och ”Loneliest one”.


HANNA BORGS
- Dalademokraten

Jonna Lee
”This is Jonna Lee”
(Razzia Records)
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Jonna Lees andra album började som en anteckningsbok. Under turnén med första skivan ”10 pieces, 10 bruises” skrev hon ner sina tankar i boken. Och när hon återvände till replokalen blev tankarna till låttexter och snart fanns alla låtar till ”This is Jonna Lee”.

Texterna är centrala. Kompet är sofistikerat men tillbakadraget och ibland lite anonymt. Därför är det lite svårt att ta till sig Jonna Lee med en gång. Men efter ett par lyssningar växer en rockig, lite mjukare PJ Harvey-gestalt i svensk tappning fram.

Första singeln ”My high” är en riktig en riktig egopower-låt med doakörer och hela kittet. Men det är nog ändå ”There was me”, som handlar om själdestruktivitet, som är skivans starkaste spår - avskalad med de tuffaste gitarrerna.
Christine Odén - Arbetarbladet

Kategori: Pop
JONNA LEE
"This is Jonna Lee"
(Razzia/BonnierAmigo)
Betyg: ++++

Hon förenar The Strokes och A Camp i singeln "My high", men jag tror inte det är låten som ska göra det för Jonna Lee den här gången. Hon har nämligen en klockren singeldänga i "Lake Chermain". Den är förvisso 5.42 lång och har ett maratonintro, men kapa det och Jonna Lee är med och fajtas i Trackstoppen.
Att döpa sitt andra album till "This is Jonna Lee" känns som att ta lite avstånd från tidigare utgivningar. Jonna Lee debuterade ganska uppmärksammat för två år sedan, men har mycket riktigt lyckats bättre i dag. "This is Jonna Lee" är egensinnig, men inte svår att ta till sig. Här finns låtar som gör en glad - inte minst "Lake Chermain" då - och här finns låtar med allvarligare ton. Och här finns mycket som tyder på delad musiksmak med Nina Persson. Då förstår ni att det är bra.
David Stark/TT Spektra
david.stark@ttspektra.se - TT Spectra

Listening to This Is Jonna Lee is probably as close to Jonna Lee as one can comfortably get, delving under her skin, into her brain and walking around her native Stockholm conjuring up this strange bunch of songs. Adult themes are seemingly relayed through the eyes of a child possessed, challenging the listener’s grasp of perspective, and what would ordinarily be occasions for slow and sombre reflection – generally covering the painful topics of loneliness, heartbreak and death – are portrayed in a way that fools the part of the brain that focuses on colour and light into believing that life is not as cruel as it seems.

Thoughtful lyrics that should face the darkest places in human nature end up telling an altogether different story when recited cheerfully over uplifting acoustic arrangements, multi-layered harmonies and cute sound effects. Opening track ‘Aberdeen On New Years Eve’ begins with a heartfelt tribute to a year passed but, with the mere addition of a quirky drum beat, transforms both the tempo and mood into something that utterly confuses the senses.

It’s a trick that lasts the length of the album. Each song plays its part in a weird alternative reality, moving from upbeat nonchalance to slow, echoing sadness and desperation and back before you can say “bipolar, anyone?”. The sublime first single ‘My High’, a carefree retort to a faded relationship, is contrasted by the poignant ‘The Weight & The Beating Of His Heart’, despite both using a love of classic storytelling that only exists in the soul of a Ben Folds or Beatles fan to form something more moving than Lee might like to let on.

Lee’s sense of innocence in the face of tragedy – generated only through the exploitation of great pop music – is certainly her greatest tool, hand-crafting a caricature that is instantly lovable but ultimately intriguing. Before you have time to question what you’ve just heard too deeply, with a sly wink and a hint of sorrow in her eye Ms Lee moves on, leaving just enough optimism running through your veins and melody reverberating in your skull to keep you going until her return. Expect it to be there for some time.

Anna Claxton - Wears the trousers magazine