Jens Lekman is a lovely and peculiar creature. On the eve of the release of Night Falls Over Kortedela, Play It As It Lays is using him as a vehicle to compensate for our relative abscence in the last fortnight. (Which was due to attempts at fortune making in the big smoke. Result: partial success.)
To celebrate my own proper return to Sheffield and a rekindling of my love affair with Secretly Canadian I, Jen, present a Jens super-post of sorts, two brand new tracks, two hidden treasures and a classic from the Scando I love the most. (Well, nearly the most).
'No Time For Breaking Up' was the very first Jens Lekman track I ever heard. It's a little unusual for him, there's no airs of the cabaret, the glint of a showtune, or the parp of some excitable brass sections. It came on a free CD fom the late Comes With A Smile magazine.
It opens with the sound of Christmas - bells and a choir welcoming in the glorious melancholy of Lekman at his most moving. It's a slow burner, a sombre plea; quite beautiful, sparse and careful.
The next two tracks are from his new album Night Falls Over Kortedala. The first is the penultimate track, 'Kanske Ar Jag Kar i Dig', which opens with some gorgeous barbershop style harmonies and fingerclicks. The slow jaunt of the track is irresistible, doused in cheese; in ooohhs and aaahhhs and Lekmans delicious croon. My favourite part: "My words are c-c-c-comin out all wrong". Perfect.
On the fourth track 'And I Remember Every Kiss' the majestic arrangements and Lekmans voice smacks of a Scando Scott Walker. His voice is smooth and thick - chocolatey almost. He drapes it in great velvety swathes around simple lovelorn lyrics, splashed with a lovely bit of accent.
The fifth track is from the Secretly Canadian compilation released this year, on which Secretly Canadian artists covered other Secretly Canadian artists. Lekman's rendering of Scout Niblett's 'Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death' is full of dinky percussion, whistles and maracas. Niblett's vocals put the original in sharp heavy relief, just her imperfect voice and a basic drumbeat. Lekman turns the statement of mortality into something positive, the choir singing together with arms outstretched.
There's something I find very captivating about Scandinavian oddballs such as Lekman, especially when he's such a softie. If you still need convincing, then get a load of 'You Are The Light' - the perfect pick me up, sung in slightly warped English - "Yeah I got busted, I painted a dirty word on your old man's Mercedes Benz cos you told me to do it". It is perfectly endearing in your ears, if not on paper.
Jens Lekman - No Time For Breaking Up
Jens Lekman - Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig
Jens Lekman - And I Remember Every Kiss
Jens Lekman - Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death
Jens Lekman - You Are the Light
Jens has presents for you here. To say thanks, and to stop him threatening to quit again, buy something of his here. There's much more on his website, including a very readable news blog.
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