I
Jonathan Johansson

About:

29 august 1980 - Malmö

Jonathan Johansson is the son of the artist Janeric Johansson and Eva Johansson, who is the school leader. He has two siblings. Johansson grew up in Malmö. At the start of the century he meets producer Johan Eckeborn and the two start collaberating. The synthmusic of Johan and the dark lyrics of Jonathan almost symbiotic fall together. A first album is released under the name Jonathan Och Hjältar with the title "OK, ge mig timmarna" . It is the only album under that monacre. In 2008, Johansson broke under his own name (but with Johan at his side) with the single "En hand i himlen", and in February 2009 released the album with the same title . In 2009 he received the nominations Newcomer of the Year at the Grammisgalan and Artist of the Year at P3 Gold . In October 2011, the album "Klagomuren" was released which gets even more critical acclaim

Together the duo composed in 2012 the music for the Dracula theater set at Uppsala City Theater , where Johansson also participated as an actor in the performance. In October 2013, the duo released the album "Ett språk för dom dömda", which is based on the set of Dracula . In October 2014, the single "Ny / Snow" was released which hints to a more pop sound and a move away from the dark wave sound of before.In the spring of 2015 the album "Lebensraum!" is his last album that is released in CD. Since then his music is only available as download or limited vinyl. .

On april 7 2017 a terrorist attack on Drottninggatan in Stockholm has deep impact on Jonathan. He decides to put his emotions and sadness to music for the album "Scirocco" which consists of philosophical thoughts, fears about climate change and Christian symbolism. The album is released at the start of the Corona crisis in 2020.

On the web:

- Jonathan´s website: https://jonathanjohansson.se/

What do we think:

DB: Johansson is everything most Swedish synth artists are not. His music is filled with bruised emotionalism and winter chills. It is a soundtrack of loneliness and deep conscience of a person that wants to reach out but is unable to connect. The power of the duo Johan/Jonathan is that through the music they can connect. I always find their albums having a great impact. This is no mediocre popstuff but hitting on a deeper layer. Johansson has a great voice that somewhere reminds of Midge Ure or Scritty Politi and musically sometimes reminds me of the best material by artists like Alison Moyet (Yazoo).

If you like this, you probably like.. / european counterparts:

Albums:

♪♪♪ - OK, ge mig timmarna (as Jonathan Och Hjältar) - 2005

♪♪♪♪- En hand i himlen - 2009

♪♪♪♪♪ - Klagomuren - 2011

♪♪♪ - Ett språk för dom dömda - 2013

♪♪♪- Lebensraum! - 2015

♪♪ - Love & Devotion - 2016

♪♪♪♪ - Scirocco - 2020

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided