Now Playing: If You Go
Simon Lynge has been to the future, and he likes what he saw.
“I saw the mountains and the rivers and the beauty of us all”.
With
those lines, Simon sums up his outlook on life and a basis for his music. His
debut album, The Future, (just
named Album of the Week by MDR (radio and TV in Germany) introduces Simon as a
fully-formed contender for major success. It was recorded at Bright Orange
Studios in Los Angeles
with co-producers Matt Forger (Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney) and Jon Mattox (The
Young Dubliners).
The Future is a musical beauty worthy of the wide audience it
is finding after entering the BBC UK charts at #22 one day after the June 7
release. It also hit #1 on the Amazon.com UK Rock charts. German Rolling Stone
just did a two page feature on this new artist and The Koelner in Cologne said
Simon’s music is “Full of fresh craftwork, positive energy and original
ideas…..This is so beautiful it makes you want to listen to it very loudly and
again and again. “
Simon,
still very new to the international music scene has received recognition equal
to a seasoned veteran. ABC-TV’s hit show Brothers
and Sisters featured the title track to The
Future on their second show of the 2010 Fall season. The London Times says,
“Lynge’s pure, warm voice was at its best on the beautiful, Beatlesy ‘Love
Comes Back to You’ and his forthcoming first UK single,
‘Infinitely You’. ….. With luck, Lynge could be this year’s José González.”
The
forces that shaped Simon for this moment are elemental gifts - - a receptive
mind and heart, a musical family, opportunity and bone-sure drive.
Simon’s
music roots are Inuit-Scandinavian. Raised in the beautiful steppes of Greenland, Simon’s early
years were spent outside of school, at play, often helping to tend his
neighbor’s sheep. He was constantly exposed to music and storytelling by
his multitalented father Karl, who played accordion with the “Greenlandic Bob Dylan” Rasmus Lyberth, and also worked with Eskimo
folklore in the Tukak Theatre Group.
Simon
later enrolled in the Holstebro Music Conservatory in Denmark, where
he immersed himself in the study of drums, piano and opera. His musical
hunger led him to the guitar and songwriting, and he quickly found himself
co-writing and performing with exceptional talents in the Copenhagen songwriter scene.
Invitations followed to perform at Kashmir Club in London,
to write and perform on Nashville’s Music Row
and in Los Angeles.
To complete the circle, Simon recently returned to the Danish capitol to
perform to 25,000 fans at the famed Tivoli
Gardens.
He
writes and performs mostly on guitar with a style that produces bell-like
harmonies that splinter in gorgeous patterns around superb melodies. It’s
there his spirit moves best. Never too clever or self conscious, Simon’s
music wraps round you like a new hug from an old friend. When the word got out about Simon’s talents,
it worked like a magnet attracting world-renowned talents like bass-player Lee
Sklar (James Taylor, Jackson
Browne), guitarist Shane Fontayne (Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon),
drummer Jay Bellerose (Marc Cohen, Madeliene Peyroux), and bassist Freebo (Bonnie Raitt, John Mayall, CSN).
The
first sign of success came in March 2006, when a demo and basically
incomplete version of the track “A
Beautiful Way to Drown” found its way to the national
radio station in Greenland. It became an
instant hit, displacing Coldplay from the number
two position on the charts. Around that time, Simon signed up with the Los Angeles
based management team of Jolene Pellant and Mike Gormley
in their company, Yes Dear Entertainment.
2009
brought recognition and commercial opportunity to meet Simon's rising
talent, and as a hard-working artist he started laying the foundation to a
significant step forward in his career. YDE management negotiated a deal
with Lo-Max Records out of the UK
to release The Future throughout
Europe, Australasia and Japan.
Released in the UK in June
of 2010, Simon started the pre-release campaign in 2009 in Aberdeen, Scotland,
opening for the buzz-boy of the year, Jon Allen. Some twenty-one dates later,
Simon found himself with rave reviews not only in the London Times but music industry buzz publications such as Record of the
Day.
In rather prestigious circles the brilliance
of Simon’s work on his debut album The Future is already being
compared to the likes of Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Elliot Smith, Nick
Drake and other uncommonly gifted artists.
Simon
Lynge discography:
6 Sketches – “Live” EP (2004) – features 6 tracks performed live in Copenhagen, Nashville and Los Angeles (available
on-line and at shows)
Beyond My Skin – EP (2007) – features 6 acoustic studio tracks – 2 acoustic versions of songs from
the forthcoming (available on-line and at shows)
A Beautiful Way To Drown (2009) –
Simon’s FIRST full-length studio album –
The
Future (2010) – A Beautiful Way
to Drown..re-named and re-sequenced for European release.
Some press:
The
London Times
The serene setting of Union Chapel suited the 24-year-old, who exuded a Zen-like
calm as he sang strikingly pretty, melodic songs with a debt to Paul Simon and
James Taylor. Behind him, the multi-instrumentalist Richard Lobb provided
inspired backing by taping and looping everything from mandolin, keyboards and
drums to knee slaps, finger clicks and taps on the packing crate on which he
was perched. Lynge’s pure, warm voice was at its best on the beautiful,
Beatlesy Love Comes Back to You and his forthcoming first UK single,
Infinitely You. Both have already been picked up for films and adverts. With
luck, Lynge could be this year’s José González.
BBC---“Simon is a fascinating
man and an amazing talent all the
way from Greenland. He’s an Inuit Scandinavian and he plays beautiful,
beautiful music. You’ll hear
a lot more of him in the future – I am
sure.”
Sally Taylor
MUSIC WEEK
Counting Elliott Smith and Nick Drake among his influences, Lynge’s music is a
brand of quite faultless melodic rich pop.
RECORD OF THE DAY
Love Comes Back To You immediately hits the spot as a warm-sounding,
beautifully-written song with a simple, memorable melody. Influences like Paul
Simon aren't hard to spot on this track and everything we've heard from Simon
Lynge's forthcoming debut album 'The Future' is top-drawer quality.
HIPFISH
Lynge has an exceptionally beautiful voice, remarkably fluid, musical, with a
quality something like Rufus Wainwright. As well a natural on guitar and joined
by seasoned LA rock veterans, his first effort isn't over the top, but
maintains song craft, paired down acoustic ensemble, many magical
elements...the guy is one hunky Dane/Inuit.
PERFORMING SONGWRITER
From the first high-tidal harmonic swells of “London Town,”
Simon Lynge’s aptly titled record pulls you into lush, comforting waves of
sound. Brian Wilson would adore Beautiful
Way, especially the jubilant title track, a sonic
swirling celebration of love. Mixing palpable urgency (“If You Go”) with pretty
indictments (“Television Talk”) and an abiding sort of joyful melancholy, Lynge
creates the kind of wondrous music that makes you feel like a wide-eyed kid,
led by bravely honest yet reassuringly optimistic lyrics. Singing “I am a song
on a six-string / When life goes wrong / I am laughing,” his emotionally
immediate voice and finger-picked guitar could easily thaw even the coldest of
hearts. —GMG
CASHBOX
An absolute masterpiece. I loved every track and for ole Jed. to venture
outside his normal range, this is saying a lot. …I can certainly tell that Paul
Simon, Cat Stevens and others had a great deal of influence on this young man.
The production on this CD is awesome and the songwriting is superb. ….. This
project is absolute perfection. Simon delivers this 12 track collection and one
bonus track like he’s been working on his 20th CD. However it is not and this
first effort will be remembered as a true classic and will last many years.
MUSIC CONNECTION
This fresh singer/songwriter from Denmark,
who currently calls the U.S.
home, is receiving well earned airplay around the country. Lynge's calling card
is his pin-point harmonies and the sort of soft melodies that turn with the
driver's wheel and hug the curves of your memory. His organic songwriting style
will spark comparison to Jackson Browne, or Elliott Smith, but Lynge's unique
inflections and bold, professionally produced compositions are enough to put
him in his own category.
POLY POST
"..with a voice that resonates like a bell, Simon Lynge brings a sound
that has been sculpted through many years of travel and practice.
...lyrical content emanates with a poetic feel that indulges the senses with
analogies of some of life's more complex experiences like love and loss.
...remaining true to the melody-driven style of the past, each composition has
a catchy, memorable quality to it, leaving each song feeling unique and
inspired.
GAFFA
" His music expresses untamed nature and he gladly experiments with the
pop format...he has wonderful voice. A truly sympathetic songwriter."
“His voice is bright and there’s power in his
singing….. a very beautiful and wonderful musical experience”…
Christianshavneren, Copenhagen
Song
placements:
Brothers and Sisters (TV show)-
The Future
Lie to Me (TV show) -Full
Speed
Young, Single, and Angry (film)
– A Beautiful Way to Drown
American
Pie 6 (film) – Love Comes Back To You
Nordea Bank – Denmark –
(Commercial) - Infinitely You
Arctic
Hotel TV
(Commercial) -- The Future (winner of the Gold Award at the 9th Annual Golden
City Gate competition in Berlin, Germany,
March, 2010)
Air Greenland
(commercial) -- The Future
