CITY - Issue 60 - (Page 57)

CITIZENS: Leona Naess I didn’t rush. I’m protective of my songs and I wanted to sit with them. It’s easier when that happens; songs can fall out of the sky and into your lap. It’s like a stream — you’re not responsible for it. L eona Naess won’t cop to being the city’s last romantic. “No way!” the singe -songw ite p otests, pe haps too much. “I feel like I’m so un omantic. I wea my hea t on my sleeve and feel things p etty st ongly, but I don’t walk the st eets sea ching longingly fo love — that would be false adve tising. “ ou hea Bob Dylan with Blood On The T acks,” Naess continues. “On that eco d it sounds as if he’s the most amazing love -boyf iend-husband. But when you think about it, he was p obably uthless in matte s of the hea t. It’s like that quote, ‘The a tist is not the man.’” She’s making a passing efe ence to Geo ge Sand and the w ite ’s idea that the best a tists a e the ones who go in — not content to me ely elate thei own na ow expe ience, they instead wo k to conju e the lives and loves of othe s in the sea ch fo la ge t uths. Pa t of Sand’s lite a y eputation stems f om he p actice of d essing as a man to access salons and situations no mally oﬀ limits to a woman in 19th centu y Pa is, and though compa isons end the e Naess’ songw iting likewise de ives much of its impact f om quotidian situations. He songs have he eve ywhe e. nd that’s the omance of he latest album Thi teens. With its wild ush of backwa ds glances, un esolved conve sations with love s in absentia and mo nings at the kitchen table unpacking d eams f om the night befo e, Thi teens is the sound of a woman in love with the ins and outs of love. In one song she’s “ unning a ound/ unning a ound/ unning a ound,” and in anothe she’s putting on lipstick and a d ess she’s su e will have some hapless dude doing the same. nd she begins anothe by ﬂatly suggesting, “Let’s just get ma ied/ aise ou own family”. The e’s th ough line f om of 70s confessional folk pop to Naess’ music, but with its u ban backd op and evolving doo of gi l meets boy scena ios it feels like listening to Ge shwin a ound this time of yea — “ utumn In New o k”. The p oduct of a multinational ma iage between an inte io designe and billionai e shipping magnate/mountainee , Naess was bo n in New o k, educated in London and sta ted to play guita as a teen; she etu ned to the city to study music and anth opology at N U. “My senio thesis asked if humans we e inhe ently good o evil,” she says. “Natu e o nu tu e — away f om society would we make the same mistakes? It was Lo d Of The Flies stuﬀ . . . p etty dep essing at age 21.” e g aduation Naess played the downtown coﬀee shop open mic ci cuit and sta ted the decade as a p omising talent with a handful of well-c a ed albums that bounced a ound the majo label system. Following the climbing death of he fathe in 2004, howeve , she took a b eak f om the music indust y schedule and ultimately lost he eco ding cont act. Naess continued to make music; wo king at home in he downtown apa tment with a small ci cle of collabo ato s she w ote and eco ded a numbe of un eleased lo-ﬁ laptop p ojects that eventually became the inspi ation (and title) fo Thi teens. The detou f om an expected t ajecto y b ought new dimension to Naess’ wo k. She explains that as a songw ite she’s “always wo ked -B C. It’s bo ing p obably.” But a couple of yea s mining ﬁ st take vocals eco ded to laptop shi ed he focus f om a iving at ﬁ nished mate ial to a mo e measu ed app oach that mixed spontaneity and eﬂection. “I didn’t ush,” she says simply. “I’m p otective of my songs and I wanted to sit with them. It’s easie when that happens; songs can fall out of the sky and into you lap. It’s like a st eam — you’ e not esponsible fo it.” s a esult the e’s a feel of hushed int ospection th oughout Thi teens. The songs a e constantly add essing anothe who isn’t the e, and even when caousing with f iends on the jingle-jangle ba oom singalong of “Leave ou Boyf iend” it sounds as if she’s constantly thinking of being some othe place. “I’ve always been att acted to songs that don’t give themselves away at ﬁ st listen,” she says. They’ e p ope pop songs, but the e’s something else the e.”

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CITY - Issue 60

CITY - Issue 60 Contents Our Friends Action Wanted City Moment In Rogue Luscious Life Temporary Contemporary Fast Food Diary Leona Naess Matthew Stone Henrik V Ibskov Massimiliano Nogioni Young Bloods Keys to the Ferarri Fine Craftsmanship The New Frontier Conscious Evolution New World Order Spiral Casual Fridays Where to Buy It Cityscape

CITY - Issue 60

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