Jens Lekman - Night FallsOver Kortedala

Tue 20th Nov, 2007 in Music Reviews

Jens Lekman
Night Falls Over Kortedala
Secretly Canadian/Spunk!/EMI

Romantic and whimsical, Jens Lekman manages to make the sound of broken hearts sound absolutely wondrous. Over a pile of strings he intones his misery on Night Falls Over Kortedala’s opening track And I Remember Every Kiss. It’s enough to make you swoon, even as tears well up.

It doesn’t need to be said, but with his baritone, melancholic lyrics, and bombastic musical bedding, Lekman still comes across very much as Sweden’s answer to Stephen Merritt’s Magnetic Fields. Lusher and more realised here than on any of his previous released, Night Falls Over Kortedala is seemingly destined to be the album that breaks Jens Lekman out of his indie ghetto and into the mainstream.

It wouldn’t be surprising at all if he became an overnight sensation – the songs on this album are pop confectionary par excellence. His lyrics are what set them apart from many other contemporaries (from Mika to Rufus Wainwright) who are of a similar ilk. The greater musical adventurism found on Night Falls Over Kortedala certainly puts him in Sufjan Stevens’ orbit of indie music’s pin-up singer-songwriters.

It’s strange that a Swedish songwriter who still sings in his native tongue ( Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig appears here ) is so able to capture the trials and tribulations of being in love. Occasionally he is awfully schmalzy, but it works in his favour as well – the showmanship found on A Postcard to Nina is a large part of said song’s charm. For the most part Jens Lekman is heartfelt – rather than heartbroken – throughout this genuinely impressive third album.