///PRESS

//Posted Sep 30:

JONNA LEE OCH MAIA HIRASAWA PÅ NÄRA TURNÉ

Svenska artisterna Maia Hirasawa och Jonna Lee gör unikt samarbete när de
i höst ger sig ut på en turné tillsammans där de inte bara delar scen -
utan också spelar varandras låtar.

- Det blir en intim och väldigt spontan turné, säger Maia Hirasawa.
Det var i somras som Maia kom på idén om en extremt avskalad höst.
Hon fick ett infall och ringde upp kollegan och kompisen Jonna Lee, och
frågade om hon skulle vilja göra en turné där de delar på utrymmet och
arbetet, där de kompar varandra i låtarna och följer varandras nya idéer.
- Vi delar samma kärlek till att spela live, så att dela scen känns helt
logiskt, säger Jonna.

NÄRA är en turné där rösterna brister, där gitarrsträngarna går av, där
två av våra finaste låtskrivare och sångerskor gör det de gör bäst:
spelar, rakt ut, precis framför dig.

MAIA HIRASAWA: släppte GbgvsSthlm i våras och debuten Though I'm just me
2007, producerar sina egna skivor, spelar det mesta själv, har turnerat i
Europa, USA, Japan, Brasilien och Kina, gjorde The Arks The Worrying Kind
i Melodifestivalen 2008, en gång medlem i Hello Saferide, låtar du har
hört: And I found this boy, Mattis & Maia, Gothenburg, South again, The
wrong way

JONNA LEE: släppte This is Jonna Lee  2009 och 10 pieces, 10 bruises 2007,
producerar sina egna skivor, spelar det mesta själv, är ny programledare
för P3 Live Session, har gjort duetten And your love med Ed Harcourt och
även spelat förband till honom, hade klubben xx, låtar du hört: My high,
Dried out eyes, Lake Chermain

Maia och Jonna repar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch\?v=VI4Np2Lt_YA
http://www.youtube.com/watch\?v=9MvBAgAPDMg


//Jonna Lee//

Lee was born 1981 in Linköping and grew up in a small Swedish village in the country with her mother.
Jonna was a natural talent and a musical mind at an early age though no one in her family had any musical leanings.

-"My parents are both artists but neither one of them have any musical skills, so growing up in a house without any musical instruments made it hard to practise what I love. I secretly practise singing in my room 'cause I knew no one would understand my passion for music and that had me fighting to persue being a musician", Jonna says.

In her teens, she packed her belongings and ran off to London to get space and find out what she had to do to get to work with music. Her first encounter with the music buisness came at age 17 when she as a member in a duo released her first album. Not being satisfied with sharing the spotlight, Jonna Lee went solo and learned to play all neccessary instruments to become the artist she wanted to be.

In her early twenties, Lee found her way back to Sweden and moved to Stockholm where she became a part of the underground indie scene, but still keeping one foot it London. She started recording her own records that were released only trough her website until she was signed by Swedish indie label Razzia records spring of 2007.

Jonna Lee’s debut album “10 pieces, 10 bruises” was released in Scandinavia Oct 2007 and was produced by Lee together with Swedish
producer Claes Björklund (Travis) in London. The first single was “Dried out eyes”, followed by “And your love”, a duet with UK talent Ed Harcourt. Harcourt also produced three of the tracks on her debutalbum. Danny Goffey from UK band Supergrass guest plays on two songs.

“10 pieces, 10 bruises” was also released in Japan in July 2008 by P-Vine records.

In September 2008 Jonna Lee released a 5 track EP entitled THIS WAR, a teaser from her fortcoming second album, that also featured the song “The Light” that Swedish radio picked up and put on the playlist though it really wasn't meant to be a single. It can also be found on her second album.

Feb 25 2009 “THIS IS JONNA LEE”, produced by Jonna herself together with Claes Björklund, hit the stores and Itunes worldwide. The first single was “My High” and now the second single "Lake Chermain" is currently being plugged on Swedish radio. Her second album she describes, is a more honest and forward record but is still musically related to her previous recordings.

"THIS IS JONNA LEE" was chosen as the "Next big thing" on Itunes USA's front page in May of 2009.

Jonna Lee’s distinguishing feature is her elegant but hoarse voice combined with her hopeful but mellow songs and her stage persona that is something out of the ordinary. " When I'm on stage, I own the stage and I truly love what I do", Jonna says.


Some of the guest musicians on “THIS IS JONNA LEE” are Neil Primrose from Travis, Annika Norlin of Hello Saferide and Andrea Kellerman from Firefox AK.


//UK Blog The Next Big Thing wrote:

“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