Background Noise: Jens Lekman “Night Falls Over Kortedala”
February 20, 2009
Not many people know who this is. I found out from listening to NPR’s “All Songs Considered” about a year and a half ago. Back when this album came out he did an interview and played a few tracks. I really like what he was playing. He was also funny.
That’s what lead me to what has become one of my favorite albums. A few things I feel I need to note though. First, it’s pop music. Plan and simple pop. It’s swedish too. It’s all in english but there are a lot of cultural references that may turn some people off. The dude kind of sounds like Morrissey to some people. That also turns people off. I don’t think he’s trying to sound like him, but the combination of the accent and his style kind of makes it happen. Those are the most common complaints I have heard and I wanted to get them out of the way.
The album is a pretty solid combination of Lekman’s voice and guitar over sweet ass loops and samples. The man does a lot of sampling and finds some great sounds. The songs for the most part seem autobiographical but it’s important to know that many of the events have been exaggerated or possibly made up. If the hilarious events described in “Postcard to Nina” are true I’ll eat my hat. Of course, any of the liberties taken just add to the fun of the album. None of it ever detracts.
The album opens with an almost big band sound that is just building horns over Lekman’s voice. The beat drops so to speak on the second track, which is a great follow to the albums beautiful open and builds on the theme introduced in it. For the most part this is an upbeat album. Even the downbeat stuff feels fun. “Shirin” is about a Iraq refugee hairdresser who obviously feels the pain of the war. The song builds to a sweet moment where Jens promises to never sell her out to immigration. It’s funny, but sad. The song itself, never stops being fun. It’s a beautiful balance of pain, love, and music. Many of the songs have strange or odd subject matter in them. There’s songs about pretending to date lesbians, bingo night in the country, and having a heart to heart with your sister on the beach. The lines beautify the mundane like asthma inhalers, seashells as metaphors, and cutting vegetables.
“Kanske Är Jag Kär I Dig” is probably my favorite song. It has a very doo wop feel to it. Once the beat and the hand claps kick in the fun really begins. There is also some amazing guitar work on this song. It has a bright sunny Beach Boy’s vibe that is complimented by some great horns and a sick break down.
This isn’t an album many people have heard of but I can’t recommend it enough. It’s beautifully constructed, fun, breezy, and often times hilarious. It features a kind of charm that is rarely found in music, especially pop music, nowadays. Since this is kind of an obscure choice here is the song “Kanske Är Jag Kär I Dig.” Hope you enjoy it.
