I'm Kingfisher

4/5 "A major Swedish contribution to the Americana Market" - R2

"Jonsson has been knocking out fine records for almost
a decade ...//... His tremolous voice is still hugely affecting"
- Rob Hughes, UNCUT (UK)

"'Willing Night Plants' inhabits the same doomy world
as Neil Young's 'Ambulance Blues'"
- Mike Houghton, UNCUT (UK) (separate mention) - Uncut!

Promising Swede fleshes out his sound ... friends of the National will find a kindres soul here - Uncut (UK) (2008)

This is one of the best albums you'll hear in 2008. Given the short attention span nature of
many folks these days it seems prudent to get the punchline out before the set-up. Mayhap now
you'll stay to let me argue the case of Sweden's Thomas Denver Jonsson, a singer-songwriter of
Bonnie Prince Billy and Cat Power proportions that's thus far flown below the radar of most in
the States. On a slow rising arc since 2003, Jonsson has made deeply grooved inroads into the
human condition, peeling away with poetry, melody and instrumental ingenuity the sticky layers
of relationships, perhaps most poignantly one's relationship to themselves and to love, in the
archetypal sense. At the risk of overloading his work with praise, Jonsson possesses an unerring
ability to make us sing our way into ourselves and one another, and he's never been more reverberantly
"on" than his third full-length, The Lake Acts Like An Ocean (Kite).

My moment sinks to the well
Please grant me your border
I revalue next step every single day
I lie next to the horizon
Your blue voice surrounds me
Guided by few, my grip bleaches
Your face is indulging
The border is rising over the trees
I hear it calling, calling for me

Strumming on a basement guitar and singing in a voice cracked, unvarnished feeling seeping
through the breaches in his burnished wooden pipes. Jonsson is a pure songwriter, choosing the
right setting, the right tones and colors, to fit each shifting mood. Where earlier releases
downplayed his diversity a bit, here he steps boldly away from folksy tropes, adding electricity
and rhythm with an assurance that echoes Iron And Wine's evolution the past few years. Lake contains
huge sweeps in mood, from the naked tenderness of "Only For Beginners" to the phosphorescent,
hold-your-breath shimmer of "Possession" to Townes Van Zandt-esque instrumental "The Tapdancers' Union"
to the ringing carousel twirl of "She Runs In Slow Motion." Rather than feeling scattershot, Jonsson
has crafted something cohesive, tightening each piece into sharp focus, with the whole feeling like a
series of beautifully constructed wide shots and close-ups.

The love his band, The September Sunrise, feels for his tunes is obvious in their patient nuances and
exposed emotion that matches Jonsson's innate honesty. Fredrik Wilde (electric guitar, pedal steel),
Tomas Lindberg (bass), Henric Stromberg (drums, percussion, vocals) and Carl Edlom (electric guitar,
piano, organ, percussion, vocals), who also produced and engineered Lake, deserve a healthy portion of
the credit for the overall vibe here. One would be hard pressed to find a more inviting records that also
dishes out this level of truth telling. Their intuition for arrangements and textures, down to the tuba
(courtesy of guest Anders Jonsson) that ushers out the final notes of "Love Campaign," speak of a collective
personal investment in getting these songs across. One feels that group energy throughout in these descendents
of Michael Nesmith's First National Band and Linda Ronstadt's early '70s bands.

For anyone flipping their lid for Bon Iver, South San Gabriel or other multi-faceted strummers of our shared
ache, The Lake Acts Like An Ocean is something special most fans of thoughtful rock will be richly rewarded by.
'Nuff said.

Someone you love has flown to the sea
For a better cause of the season
Down where the trees are made out of gold
Down within love campaign
- Jambase US (2008)

"Storslaget och intimt" - Metro (S) (2010)

I'm Kingfisher - Arctic
FOLK Efter närmare tio år som en av Sveriges bäst bevarade och mest skimrande hemligheter inom singer/songwriter-genren gör Thomas Denver Jonsson en nystart. "Arctic” är Grumssonens första album som I'm Kingfisher.
Och även om det inte handlar om någon helomvändning markerar namnbytet förändring. Utgångspunkten är fortfarande den vingliga och sävliga rösten som placerar Thomas Jonsson mitt emellan Damien Jurado och Jason Molina men nu har den betydligt fler nyanser.
Med polarexpeditioner som tema (skivan är tänkt som första delen i en trilogi) och den akustiska gitarren som utgångspunkt har materialet fått kanter av stråkar, blås, avlägsna elgitarrer och stora syntar. Allt samlat som en fängslande och charmig folkindie som tillåts ta ut svängarna, utan att tappa melodierna.
Mer levande, varierad och angelägen låter Thomas Jonsson viktigare än någonsin. - Aftonbladet (S) (2010)

From track one the listener knows that they are in the hands of an experienced artist who knows his way round not only an instrument or a tune but also a sensibility.
‘Willing Night Plants’ opens with a jaunty flourish that is underpinned by the ever present sense of isolation and melancholy that seems to exist as a given in Scandinavian Americana. Yes there are hints of Dunger and The Lancaster Orchestra but Jonsson's voice is indivdual. Is it the phrasing that singing in English produces? Perhaps but lyrically too there is a sense of brooding, dreamlike desperation – ‘struggling and circulating limbs in frost bitten water’ and ‘crying on my closed eyes in the secret garden’ The album continues mining the seam of cold music with a heart of dust . Each track continuing the sense of the whole even ‘Deer Theatre’ which could be AHA with its synths and drums but without the swooning high vocals. Jonsson steers a thoughtful path with his delivery a spoken/whispered tone that swells to a powerful tenor. The template song comes with track 7 ‘Smile with your 1000 teeth’ a slow burn narrative driven by acoustic guitar that builds with an urgency and tension and just as the climax is expected it turns left into an understated Hammond five note solo before returning to the keening narrative which cracks as it concludes. This album delivers on many levels, perhaps the only thing it lacks is a sense of ambition. There are great songs, interesting arrangements, lovely touches of strings and guitar flourishes. Well worth investigating – one for Master Martin indeed. - Americana UK (2010)

FURTHER proof Americana is a state of mind comes with the new album from this Swedish singer. Against a backdrop of acoustic instruments, with pedal steel well to the fore, Thomas evokes dusty trails and wide American skies.The Swedes seem particularly good at finding their musical feet among the likes of Bonnie Prince Billy and this is a prime example.The delicate Only For Beginners could almost be Bonnie Prince at his most tender, while the dreamy One Of My Blessings again exhibits a rare lightness of touch. In a crowded marketplace, this album stands out. SC - The Sun (2008)

THE INDEPENDENT

Don't be fooled by the "Denver" in his name. He's all Swede. Not unless
you count Jonsson's feel for the more romantic tropes of American indie-folk.
Yes, Neil Young is traceable in his voice and in some of his melodies, but
really this is the fuzzy introspection of M Ward and his ilk: quiet choogling
in the face of a stand-offish, underwhelming nature. Why should you bother,
when there's such a lot of this stuff around? Well, the aforementioned tunes
can be lovely, as can the arrangements (strings and all); and Jonsson's Swedish
way with a meteorological/seasonal image is striking. "Stay pale and stay warm" indeed. - The Independent (2008)

Pedal Steel Bonanza! This is quinessential Americana, but Scandinavian-style, as Jonsson's grainy vocals underpin strikingly phrased vignettes and his penchant for tenderness proves consistently goosepimply. It's poetic, panoramic stuff and something of a low-key jewel. - Rock Sound Magazine (2008)

He makes much of his kinship with Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Bright Eyes and Cat Power but I actually find him more appealing than all of them. .../... American's what do we need them for exactly? - Word Magazine (2008)

Swedish Equivalent to Will Oldham now on his third album of lovelorn meditations - The Times (2008)