Sweets from Sweden
Mike Desjardin
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: Arts and Entertainment
The song's dinner date charade then takes a turn for the worse. "I get a little nervous and change the subject/ I put my hands on some metal object / He jokes and tells me it's a lie detector."
On stage, Jens smiles innocently as he stumbles over the lyrics, forgetting them more than once. The crowd laughs and cheers in delight. Lekman's tongue-in-cheek attitude is infectious. He's bubbly, cordial and, given his desire to tell these stories to strangers, sounds like someone you'd find yourself hanging out with in the hookah bar of a town you'd never visited before.
The song's dinner fiasco has meanwhile gotten out of control: "Hey! You! Stop kicking my legs! / I'm doing my best/Can you pass the eggs?"
"A Postcard to Nina" comes to its dénouement as Jens informs his friend Nina that, even now, her father is contacting him "Your father's mailing me all the time/He says he just wants to say 'hi'/I send him 'out of office' auto-replies."
Those expecting an ending as smug and as self-assured as the rest of the song will be interested to learn that the final line pulls the rug from beneath your feet and promptly catches you in a pillow of surprising warmth: "Nina I just want to check in/'Cause I think about you every second/So I send you this postcard just to say/Don't let anyone stand in your way/Yours truly, Jens Lekman."
There's an inherent innocence to all of Lekman's songs, but they never stumble into complete camp, allowing Leckman to exist in his own world rather then just satirically commenting on it. His live shows, as exemplified by this YouTube clip, illuminate his refreshingly carefree and eccentric on-stage persona. Because of all this, it's almost impossible to avoid getting swept up in his sound, style and character.
On stage, Jens smiles innocently as he stumbles over the lyrics, forgetting them more than once. The crowd laughs and cheers in delight. Lekman's tongue-in-cheek attitude is infectious. He's bubbly, cordial and, given his desire to tell these stories to strangers, sounds like someone you'd find yourself hanging out with in the hookah bar of a town you'd never visited before.
The song's dinner fiasco has meanwhile gotten out of control: "Hey! You! Stop kicking my legs! / I'm doing my best/Can you pass the eggs?"
"A Postcard to Nina" comes to its dénouement as Jens informs his friend Nina that, even now, her father is contacting him "Your father's mailing me all the time/He says he just wants to say 'hi'/I send him 'out of office' auto-replies."
Those expecting an ending as smug and as self-assured as the rest of the song will be interested to learn that the final line pulls the rug from beneath your feet and promptly catches you in a pillow of surprising warmth: "Nina I just want to check in/'Cause I think about you every second/So I send you this postcard just to say/Don't let anyone stand in your way/Yours truly, Jens Lekman."
There's an inherent innocence to all of Lekman's songs, but they never stumble into complete camp, allowing Leckman to exist in his own world rather then just satirically commenting on it. His live shows, as exemplified by this YouTube clip, illuminate his refreshingly carefree and eccentric on-stage persona. Because of all this, it's almost impossible to avoid getting swept up in his sound, style and character.
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