Jens Lekman "Night Falls Over Kortedala" (Secretly Canadian) Sounds Like: Rat Pack meets Morrissey.
"Night Falls Over Kortedala," the third offering from sample-happy Swede Jens Lekman, is his best yet. Lekman uses a palate of bombastic brass, chirping flutes and buoyant beats to create his own unique brand of chamber pop. This album has less of the melancholy that marked his older material and focuses more on upbeat love songs. As always, Lekman is a consummate storyteller.
Live favorite "Postcard to Nina," a tale of a German friend who asks Lekman to pose as her fiancé at a family dinner, shines on the record. His tender ode to his barber, "Shirin," boasts such lyrics as, "When Shirin cuts my hair / it's like a love affair." Hopelessly romantic as ever, Lekman continues to write lush, catchy pop tunes like no one else.
-LINDSAY ZOLADZ
