swan dive

Swan Dive - Until
Biography

If you listen very closely, you can hear it. The rush of the waves breaking on a beach, the soft bounce of fingers on a nylon-string guitar, the alluring syncopation of the Brazilian beat.

Though modern day Nashville and early '60s Rio may be some forty-five years and 5,000 miles apart, it is possible, with a sensitive heart, to tune into the longing and eternal beauty of the bossa nova. And that's exactly what pop duo Swan Dive does on their new album, Until.

Drawing on their favorite artists such as Marcos Valle, Elis Regina, Walter Wanderley and of course, bossa originators Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto, Swan Dive filters the classic beat and the "happy sad" feeling (what Brazilians call "saudade") through their own unique sensibilities to create a refreshing new sound.

"It's like landlocked bossa nova," songwriter-guitarist Bill DeMain says with a laugh. "Though I've never been to Brazil, I've listened to so much bossa over the years that I feel like I could be an honorary citizen. My heart probably beats in bossa nova rhythm."

"We've always had one or two bossa-flavored songs on our albums," adds vocalist Molly Felder, "but to finally make a whole record in this groove has been an absolute dream come true."

Since their debut album in 1997, the duo have been connecting with fans both in Nashville and in Japan, where they've enjoyed steady success, including several top 10 singles plus many television and radio appearances. Until is their eighth record.

It began with a letter to Brazil - specifically to hugely popular artist Celso Fonseca.

"I sent a fan letter to Celso, along with a CD of a few Swan Dive tracks," DeMain recalls. "I was dreaming out loud when I wrote in the letter that I would love to collaborate with him. A few weeks later, he emailed me to say that yes, he'd be glad to write a song with me. I was ecstatic."

After their intercontinental collaboration yielded a new classic in "Quiet Song," Fonseca translated the song into Portuguese and helped Felder and DeMain to learn the lyric.

"It's such a beautiful language," Felder says, "and I felt so honored to have Celso acting as almost a teacher."

With the stamp of approval from Fonseca, the songs for the album flowed easily. From the seductive sway of "Slowly" and "Happy Sad" through the samba party atmosphere of "Matchstick" and the wedding-inspired "Imagining," winding down with the lilting ballads "You Deserve A Song" and "Tender Love," it's a bossa-hued song cycle that entices you to listen again and again.

It's not only Rio that gets an appreciative nod from Swan Dive, but its sister city Paris, on standout tracks "Until" and "Une Fois."

"We're big fans of Michel Legrand, especially the soundtracks he wrote for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort," DeMain says. "Legrand often has echoes of bossa in his music too. The song 'Until' was an attempt to recreate the feeling of that kind of French-a-nova, a blend of love and melancholy."

The tracks for Until were recorded mostly at home then finished in the studio with the duo's longtime producer Brad Jones, lending the album an ideal blend of emotional intimacy and sparkle. With small ensemble backings, you can hear the breath rattling the reed of the saxophone, the glide of a finger on a guitar string and the parting of lips near a microphone.

"We wanted to keep the sound relaxed and close," Felder says. "It helped to record at home, though there were occasional challenges with cars driving by and dogs barking."

"I live near a hospital and a fire station," DeMain laughs. "So a few times, we had a vocal take interrupted by a passing siren. But sometimes the noises worked in our favor, like the late summer crickets that ended singing along on 'Bebe.'"

With echoes of summers near and far, plus the romance of Rio and Paris infusing their music, Swan Dive has created an unforgettable love letter to bossa nova, an intoxicating blend of Brazilian grooves and beautiful melodies that - as the title song promises - will be yours . . . Until.

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Discography

You're Beautiful (1997)
Wintergreen (1997)
Circle (1998)
Swan Dive (2000)
June (2001)
Words You Whisper (2002)
William & Marlys (2004)
Rarities (2005)
Popcorn & A Mama Who Loves Me Too (2005)
Until (2007)

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