Beautiful, rich and talented
Leona Naess is all those things, just don’t hate her for it, OK?

 
Leona Naess has supermodel looks, a billionaire father and an icon for a stepmother.

But don’t hold it against her.

Ultimately, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter would like to be judged solely on the merits of Comatised, her recently released debut album. It’s a collection of 12 confessional-pop originals which recall, at varying points, Garbage, Liz Phair and Beth Orton.

Not bad at all for a newcomer.

Of course, this newcomer also happens to be a Calvin Klein model and the daughter of billionaire Norwegian shipping magnate Arne Naess, whose 14-year marriage to Motown legend Diana Ross ended in divorce two months ago.

For an artist trying to establish her own name, that background can be an albatross.

“I’m really defensive about it,” Naess said in a telephone interview yesterday.

“I’ve grown to be because people just write you off the minute they hear, or they use that as a focus. It bugs me a lot because it’s so not that…. I’m afraid people won’t listen to the music with a clear head. They’ll listen to it with all this stuff in it.”

Oh, yeah, and one other thing …

“Everybody thinks I’ve modelled!” she said. “I have to clear this: I never modelled. I did a Calvin Klein ad for my music a year ago.

“They were looking for musicians. They had Kim Gordon (of Sonic Youth), Liz Phair — and that’s what I did…. People are asking me about (modelling) and I guess should be taking that as a compliment but, no, I never did.”

Actually, music has been Naess’ passion since she was 14. Her voice retains the British accent that betrays her upbringing in London, though she’s lived in New York City for the past six years, honing her songwriting and, by all accounts, going through an unhealthy relationship.

Songs such as Lonely Boy, Chase and first single Charm Attack all seem to be about the same guy — charismatic on the surface, but self-centred and insensitive underneath.

Naess doesn’t reveal the subject of Charm Attack — “With your gorgeous grins/You have the world sucked in,” the lyric goes — but said the fella knows the song is about him.

“Ya, I told him,” she said. “I thought I’d make his head a little bigger. You know, he’s quite proud about the song, which I think is quite funny. It’s exactly my point.”

Comatised does have its happy moments, but generally the record paints a picture of a melancholy and pensive young woman.

Ask if she had a happy childhood, she replied: “I think so. I dunno. My parents got divorced (when she was nine). That’s not a very happy situation, but I think everybody’s parents get divorced, aren’t they?”

Is she married? “God forbid!” she exclaimed.

“If I met someone tomorrow — (sighing) oh, maybe, I’m wrong — and I got married and I was really happy, I think I would probably stop writing. And that would be fine. I would open a restaurant or something. Writing should be something that you need to do. You don’t need to write if things are going well in your life. For me, writing has always been a way for me to get through rough times.”

 
- Dave Veitch

 
Calgary Sun
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