
We all know that author Nicholas Sparks wrote
The Notebook, which became a movie starring the sweet duo Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. Before The Notebook Sparks's novel Message in a Bottle became a movie. Later came A Walk to Remember starring Mandy Moore, and this year his book
Nights in Rodanthe arrived on the big screen towing Richard Gere and Diane Lane in its wake.

Loney Dear's 2007 album,
Loney, Noir, was one of those slow growers in my music collection, an album that took me a while to love but eventually became one of my frequent listens. Even so, the Swedish band's songs seemed to fall into one of two categories for me: the ones I couldn't get enough of (
"I Am John") and the ones that were pretty enough but kind of same-y (basically the second half of Loney, Noir).
So I'm glad that "Airport Surroundings," the first track I've heard off Loney Dear's upcoming album, falls into the former category.

I can confidently say that Lasse Hallstrom has become one of my most well-respected directors over time. I loved
Chocolat,
What's Eating Gilbert Grape and last year's indie film
The Hoax, and I have a lot of respect for The Cider House Rules and The Shipping News. So whenever there's news about a Hallstrom project, I sit up and pay attention.