25 years in the writing and
a year in the recording, Canterbury singer, composer, musician and teacher Jonathan Densem will
officially launch his album
I’m Saying It Now in mid-December.
The first single released from the album is
Beautiful Girl, at radio now.
48-year-old Densemhas inoperable brain cancer, diagnosed two years ago. He has always wanted to
record an album and suddenly that became a goal, which had to be achieved
within a very firm timeframe.
Over the last year, Densem
and his family have travelled an incredible journey with highly skilled
musicians, culminating in the recording of
I’m Saying It Now at what he describes as
the best studio in the southern hemisphere,
Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studios in
Auckland.
“What an experience,” he says. “I even managed to get some feedback from the
great man himself.”
For the last few years and until his diagnosis, Densem was a full-time singing and piano
teacher, and prior to that he had performed extensively in Australia and New
Zealand. Densemhad also had written a raft of songs which were ready for recording.
“Whenever I played them for people, they’d ask if I had an album they could
buy, and now I do,” he says.
With shades of Billy Joel, James Taylor, Missy Higgins and of course Neil Finn,Densem’s
story-filled songs range from intimate ballads to cruisey funk.
“All writers write from their own experience - even if the story is completely
made up. Every one of these songs comes from somewhere in my heart, my life.
Cape Reinga comes from my visit to that amazing place after my father died when he was just
47. It’s a laid-back groove sort of song and intrinsically Kiwi.
Actually, it's one of the first songs I ever wrote. On the other hand my first
single
Beautiful Girl is a pure and unashamed pop song,” he says.
I’m Saying It Now can be downloaded from
www.jonathandensem.com and the CDs are also
shipping now.
“25 years in the writing, one year in the making; I am thrilled with the result.
As an added bonus I get the joy of catching my sons absent mindedly singing one
of my songs as they go about their life…just as if they had heard it on the
radio. I know they'll always have this to remember me by.”
The official launch of I’m Saying It Now will be held on December 11 at the Charles Luney Theatre at St
Margaret’s in Christchurch, a ticketed performance of songs
from the album.
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