2008 Woodie Awards
Sweets from Sweden
Mike Desjardin
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: Arts and Entertainment
A song on Jens Lekman's 2007 release Night Falls Over Kortedala entitled "Your Arms Around Me" adequately sums up who the twenty-seven year-old Swedish pop singer is. The track opens with strings, chimes and a thunderous backbeat before Lekman begins singing about preparing an avocado in the kitchen. As he slices the fruit, his love interest approaches him with new sneakers that are too quiet for him to hear. She gives him a surprise hug causing him to slice off the tip of his finger. "From your mouth speaks your lovely voice," he sings, "The best comments I've ever heard/'Oh honey, you've cut off your finger/ I bet that's gotta hurt.'" Lekman exists in his own world of deadpan stoicism and keen observation, and his music is delightful enough to likely stay imbedded in your brain for days.
In Sweden, Night Falls Over Kortedala reached number one on the charts, and Lekman's name is now slowly making its way into American music blogs and periodicals. His music consists of samples, guitars and backup strings, and his lyrics are usually coated with sophomoric irony. On April 4, Lekman will be performing at the Paradise Rock Club and it is certainly worth seeing if you can scalp a ticket to the sold-out show.
For a preview of what is to come, there's a video on YouTube of Jens Lekman performing "A Postcard to Nina," also off of 2007's Night Falls Over Kortedala, in Melbourne, Australia. He nervously tunes a ukulele before beginning the song, stopping every now and again to address the audience with hesitant laughter. It takes him nearly a minute to tune it, and as he does, he quietly murmurs into the microphone, "Having fun?"
He's playfully candid about the origins of his songs. "A Postcard to Nina" is based on a true story in which Lekman's friend from Berlin, Nina, needed to convince her father that she was straight by bringing a fake boyfriend home for dinner. "Your father is a sweet old man/ but it's hard for him to understand/that you wanna love a woman." In the song's lyrics, Lekman agrees, and the date is underway.
In Sweden, Night Falls Over Kortedala reached number one on the charts, and Lekman's name is now slowly making its way into American music blogs and periodicals. His music consists of samples, guitars and backup strings, and his lyrics are usually coated with sophomoric irony. On April 4, Lekman will be performing at the Paradise Rock Club and it is certainly worth seeing if you can scalp a ticket to the sold-out show.
For a preview of what is to come, there's a video on YouTube of Jens Lekman performing "A Postcard to Nina," also off of 2007's Night Falls Over Kortedala, in Melbourne, Australia. He nervously tunes a ukulele before beginning the song, stopping every now and again to address the audience with hesitant laughter. It takes him nearly a minute to tune it, and as he does, he quietly murmurs into the microphone, "Having fun?"
He's playfully candid about the origins of his songs. "A Postcard to Nina" is based on a true story in which Lekman's friend from Berlin, Nina, needed to convince her father that she was straight by bringing a fake boyfriend home for dinner. "Your father is a sweet old man/ but it's hard for him to understand/that you wanna love a woman." In the song's lyrics, Lekman agrees, and the date is underway.
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