Juvelen

As much as post-NSYNC Justin Timberlake churns out high quality mainstream pop, it's hard to ignore that ugly vacuous cloud of his past and enjoy him guilt-free. Meet Juvelen, Sweden's effort to bring sexy back. To be sure, his modern pop sheen shows more Scandinavian restraint than Timbaland's ghetto fabulousness, but the spirit is the same. Equal parts asses-moving and hips-grinding, these songs are more indebted to Prince than the King of Pop. Opening track "Hanna" steals the spotlight right from its opening moments and refuses to let go. A metronomic drum beat, tasteful walking bass line, funk guitar jostle and subtle synth melodies are a perfect stolen '80s palette for Juvelen's completely un-male falsetto plea. In a perfect world, it would be an assured worldwide club hit. The follow-up, "Summer - Spring," is one of the grinders, co-opting sticky keyboard whooshes, synth steel drums, a heartbeat bass line and whispered invitations for reconciliations. The uncluttered, pristine arrangements on "Watch Your Step" feels the most true to Juvelen's Swedish pop roots, but his staccato, borderline rapped lyrics are pure "Billy Jean" genius. The remix of this track by Revl9n that closes the disc has a much harder edge and darker tone that seems to recall the grittier streets of Berlin's electronic scene. Rounding out the EP, "Of Course I Remember" is a slow jam of romance/nostalgia that could've come from a deleted scene from Purple Rain. I realize, as an American, my sexy has unavoidably already been brought, but if ever given the opportunity to swap for a new sexy, I'm going to choose this one. - Aaron Shaul

http://www.ink19.com/issues/june2007/musicReviews/musicJ/juvelen.html - Ink19

What are you up to J?
I'm preparing for the Swedish Radio Awards "P3 Guldgalan" and then my EP's coming out next week so it's been a lot lately. Plus I'm trying to stick with my studies.

What was the vision with Juvelen?
First off, I wanted to do this music I'm doing. And that I've pulled off. It's sort of like if no one else hears the music it's like it doesn't exist in reality. The music just appears in the headphones and sometimes I've felt like... ”If I forget this song now, it'll vanish like it never existed”. So of course it's an important thing that others take part and listen. And want to listen.
It was also part of my vision that I'd like to do a bigger live show in the future. It's a dream I've had for quite a while now, to have my own lighting and stage solutions and such. And that's the opposite of what I have right now - it's just me on stage... which of course has its advantages as well. You're really vulnerable when you're alone at the stage, and I think that does something for the audience - that I don't have anything or anyone to hide behind and that the only thing I have to relate to are the people in the audience.

You had a kind of shy approach in the beginning, are those times over?
Yeah I'm done with the secret attitude. At least the top secret attitude. I mean, most people don't know about me, and probably never will. But the reason why I was trying to avoid some questions were that I wanted people to listen to Juvelen without a bunch of preconceived ideas. It was a naive desire to be totally new - a blank page. But now I can almost feel it was kind of silly. Maybe I underestimated people's ability to see things for what they are.

A lot of things have been said about you. Legitimate questions that you avoided in the beginning, but its also these questions that have been repeated so many times in several interviews they seem unjustified now. How do you feel about that kind of limited focus around you? What are people missing here?
Well what I would like to read, of many artists and songwriters, are serious conversations about how they themselves experience their music and maybe most of all their songwriting. Then I guess you get a kind of heavy interview and I definitely understand that it's not suitable for all situations and magazines... plus of course you wanna keep some kind of mystical shine or something as an artist. I put down a whole lot of time writing songs and it's hard, and it's precise and I want it to be good and... you know. So I'm sort of interested in what artists that I like feel about that stuff. Ahh I always get carried away when I talk about songwriting.

You're signed to a swedish label called Hybris. How come you chose to work with them?
Hybris got in touch with me very early and showed interest. And they're really good at what they do. And nice to work with. What I really wanted to avoid was getting stuck at some huge multinational label's swedish branch, because you really can get stuck there. And sitting around waiting for farfetched strategical decisions from some venture capitalist lackey in New York is not my idea of creativity.
I really wanted to work with a label that I could have a real dialog with, where you from the start have somewhat the same idea of how things are supposed to be done.

What are your biggest inspirations?
It's a tough question, maybe first and foremost because you can be inspired at many different levels. My all time favorites are The Clash but I understand if people don't think you can hear that in Juvelen's music. I like Dylan a lot. And John Lennon's album the Plastic Ono Band from 1970 is fantastic. He put so many serious thoughts around life and love in his three minute pop format. Then I like Fischerspooner. Maybe more for their overall vision and visual stuff then just for the music itself.

Do you have any international gigs planned?
Possibly I'm going to Dublin on some festival thing in the beginning of March and then we've talked about going for a little tour to some big european cities during spring. Then I would love to go to New York again soon.
Juvelen is very mobile. All I have to do is pack a bag and jump on the first best train.

Juvelen (which by the way is swedish for ”The Jewel”) is releasing an EP any day now with new mixes of the four tracks from his myspace + a remix of ”Watch your step” by spm revl9n on the label Hybris. When not makin up loose plans on duets with dope young ladies, which it's unfortunately too early to talk further about, Juvelen's remaining time is spent on his psychology studies.

By Chistian Zubicy

http://www.flowmagazine.net/more.php?id=136 - Flow magazine

"Sweden is starting to frighten me. It wasn't enough for the
Scandinavian nation to catch the garage-rock wave or usurp Glasgow's
rightful place as a wellspring for wimpy indie-pop. No, the Swedes
also had to show off their prowess at electro-pop, dreamy epic disco,
and, with lesser success (so far), hip-hop. Stockholm's Juvelen plants
the blue and yellow flag firmly in the terrain of funky, r&b-informed
synth-pop. (His name is Swedish for "jewel," so just be thankful he
didn't choose to annex 1990s folk-pop.) "Hanna", from Juvelen's
recently released debut album, 1, is a good preview of Juvelen's
Prince-ly falsetto and twitchy dancefloor hooks. Produced by Patrik
Berger, who worked on Robyn's self-titled album, "Hanna" sounds a note
of regret to one of Juvelen's own Billie Jeans, with an arrangement of
taut guitars, smooth synths, and propulsive bass that keeps the track
always moving-- just like the insatiable Swedish pop scene." - Marc
Hogan, Pitchfork - Pitchfork

"10/10 - More than a year after issuing his debut EP, the mighty (and
yes he's mighty already) Jonas Pettersson has finally released his
debut full-length under the Juvelen moniker. Entitled "1", it is so,
as his debut album, and also, one of the best flat-out pop albums I
have heard in years. The strange thing about this album though, is
that each of it's ten songs could be a hit single, yet it retains a
cohesive feel that a singles collection does not. Every track is a
stand-out, however, for the skeptic I'd recommend "Money don't talk",
"Don't mess" and "Everytime" to win you over. His seductive,
synthesizer heavy pop/r&b hybrid could—and should—elevate Juvelen to
being a global household name.

It's pure pop perfection will make you smile, and dance, and smile and
dance."
- Matt Giordano, It's a trap.com - It's a trap