Leona Naess

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Leona Kristina Naess (born July 31, 1974 in New York ) is a singer-songwriter .

biography

Leona Naess was born in New York to a Swedish interior designer and Norwegian businessman Arne Naess Jr. She spent her childhood and adolescence in London before returning to her native city at the age of 18 to study music and anthropology at New York University . At this time she began to draw attention to herself with performances in New York scene bars such as The Bitter End . Eventually she signed a deal with Outpost Records, producer Scott Litt's record label . In 1998 Naess began work on her debut album, Comatised , which was released in March 2000. Before that, she also worked as a model for Calvin Klein . The album I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll, produced by Martin Terefe, followed in 2001 . Through a brief relationship with Ryan Adams , she met the producer Ethan Johns, with the help of which she published her third work Leona Naess in 2003. In January 2004, her father had an accident while climbing a mountain. As a result, Naess withdrew from the music business and moved to her mother in London for a while. Her contract with Geffen Records , which had existed since 2003, was terminated by the label. In 2008 her comeback Thirteens appeared , which was released on the Verve Forecast Records label.

Style and reception

Due to the versatility of her voice, Naess has been compared to Heather Nova , Edie Brickell and Hope Sandoval throughout her career . The well-known first work Comatised was a mixture of pop songs and ballads, which despite the praise of the vocal abilities, was attested to be emotional. The German edition of Rolling Stone spoke of a mixed test of talent, while other critics compared Naess to Tori Amos despite naive trivialities and "chewing gum songs" . Visions in turn rated Comatised as a good and consistently interesting album. I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll was interpreted on the one hand as a progress in their songwriting, but the type of production and the stronger focus on danceable electronic music were also criticized. The work Leona Naess meant, according to many reviewers working up her relationship with Ryan Adams. The All Music Guide praised their vocal qualities and found it to be the best album to date. In general, the record received favorable reviews. According to Naess, it wasn't until the comeback album Thirteen that she was able to realize her music according to her own ideas. The folk-heavy album once again received positive reactions.

Discography

Albums

  • Comatised (2000)
  • I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll (2001)
  • Leona Naess (2003)
  • Thirteens (2008)

Singles

  • Charm Attack (2000)
  • I Tried to Rock You But You Only Roll (2001)
  • Calling (2003)
  • Ghosts In the Attic (2007)
  • Heavy Like Sunday (2008)
  • Leave Your Boyfriend Behind (2008)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Review on laut.de
  2. ^ Review on Rolling Stone Online
  3. ↑ Discussion on plattentests.de
  4. ↑ Critique of Comatised on visions.de
  5. ↑ Review on allmusic.com
  6. ↑ Biography on RollingStone.com
  7. ↑ Critique of Leona Naess on allmusic.com
  8. ↑ Review on popmatters.com
  9. ↑ Interview with New York Press  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.nypress.com  
  10. ↑ Review on Rolling Stone Online ( Memento of the original from August 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rollingstone.de
personal data
SURNAME Naess, Leona
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Naess, Leona Kristina (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English singer-songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH July 31, 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH new York