Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala Review

Night Falls Over Kortedala sounds effortless. It glides like a kite of angel wings on a soft summer breeze, all twinkling keys, kettle drum rolls, soaring strings and Lekman’s glorious croon. It belies the difficult genesis of the record. Three years in the making, the songs were honed live, written and rewritten until they sparkled. Lekman was so disenchanted at one point that he talked of retirement. We should all be thankful that he persevered.

I guess Jens Lekman is a singer-songwriter. That tag does him such a disservice, loaded as it is with images of acoustic guitars and a stripped-down, wooden authenticity. Yes, he writes and sings his own songs, but this is The Brill Building via Gothenburg, Tin Pan Alley retooled by a sampler and a vivid imagination.

Lekman writes and performs in heavenly technicolour. This is late '60s Scott Walker performed by The Magnetic Fields. The timpani roll and glistening strings of the opening “And I Remember Every Kiss” is built around a sparkling sample from easy listening violinist Enoch Light. Jens declares his allegiance to the sect of doom romantics, yearning in his dark baritone that every kiss burns with the passion of his first kiss.

“Sipping On The Sweet Nectar” is glorious, punchy brass, bleeping bass synths, and a sighing melody. The first single, “The Opposite Of Hallelujah,” with its handclaps and chopped out piano chords, is perfect. The chorus is as sticky as honey in a heat wave. I have woken up humming it twice this week. The wry observations of “A Postcard to Nina” make it the sort of song that no one, bar Jens, seems capable of writing. So witty and tender with a chorus of drunken trombones and children’s percussion, the doo-wop harmonies in the bridge alone would melt the hardest of hearts.

Lekman can produce musical gold from the strangest collusion of influences. The MOR strings and clipped drum samples of “If I Could Cry (It Would Feel Like This)” are the sort of thing Timbaland would have produced if he had been raised on indie 7” singles in Sweden—inventive, catchy and soulful.

This a wonderful record make sure you treasure it.

Tony Heywood (c)

First Published on Kev Chino - http://www.kevchino.com/review/jens-lekman/night-falls-over-kortedala/1358

100 Greatest LP's Since I Was Born

My Favorite 100 LPS since I was born.



My Top 100 LPs since I was born!
1. American Music Club – California
2. New Order – Low Life
3. The National – Alligator
4. Momus – Tender Pervert
5. Tricky – Maxinquaye
6. Pixies – Surfer Rosa
7. Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
8. Burial – Untrue
9. Portishead – Dummy
10. PJ Harvey – Rid of Me

11. The Human League – Dare
12. My Bloody Valentine – Isn’t Anything
13. Band of Holy Joy – Manic, Magic, Majestic
14. Galaxie 500 – On Fire
15. The Smiths – Meat is Murder
16. Belong – October Music
17. Talk Talk – Laughing Stock
18. Jens Lekman – Oh Your So Silent Jens
19. Disco Inferno – D.I. Go Pop
20. Art of Noise – (Who’s Afraid of)The Art of Noise

21. Prince - Parade
22. Mark Eitzel – Sixty Watt Silver Lining
23. William Basinski – Disintegration Loops
24. Antony & The Johnsons – I am A Bird Now
25. The Caretaker - Theoretically Pure Anterograde
26. Blue Nile – Hats
27. Underworld – NodubbasswIthmyheadman
28. Bjork - Debut
29. Arctic Monkeys – My Favourite Worst Nightmare
30. The Smiths – Hatful of Hollow

31. The Cure – 17 Seconds
32. Arab Strap – The Week Never Starts Round Here
33. Stone Roses – Stone Roses
34. Depeche Mode – Black Celebration
35. Lilly Allen – Alright Still
36. Jesus & Mary Chain – Psychocandy
37. Vic Chesnut – West of Rome
38. This Mortal Coil – It’ll End In Tears
39. Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
40. Billy Bragg – Workers Playtime
41. Pet Shop Boys – Please
42. PIL – Metal Box
43. Tim Hecker – An Imaginary Country
44. Bob Mould – Work Book
45. Richmond Fontaine - The Fitzgerald
46. Cowboy Junkies – Caution Horses
47. R.E.M. – Document
48. Morrissey – Vauxhall & I
49. Primal Scream – Screamadelica
50. Galaxie 500 – Today

51. Talk Talk – Sprit of Eden

52. Junior Boys – No Exit
53. Joy Division – Closer
54. Michael Jackson – Off The Wall
55. Yellow Swans – Drift
56. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
57. Burial – Burial
58. The The – Soul Mining
59. Kraftwerk – The Man Machine
60. Soft Cell – Non Stop Erotic Cabaret
61. Robert Wyatt – Rock Bottom

62. New Order – Technique
63. Afghan Whigs – Gentlemen
64. Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
65. Nick Cave – The Boatmans Call
66. PJ Harvey – White Chalk
67. Vic Chesnut – Drunk
68. Big Black – Atomiser
69. American Music Club – United Kingdom
70. The Cure – Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
71. Beach Boys – Surfs Up

72. Brian Eno – On Land
73. Suicide – Suicide
74. Buzzcocks – Another Music From a Different Kitchen
75. Big Star – Third/Sister Lovers
76. Nirvana – In Utero
77. Bruce Springsteen – Nebraska
78. Durutti Column – Vini Reilly
79. Malcolm Middleton - Into The Woods
80. Times New Viking – Born Again Revisited

81. This Heat – Deceit
82. The Go-Betweens – Tallulah
83. His Name Is Alive – Mouth by Mouth
84. Goldmund – Corduroy Road
85. The XX – XX
86. Matson Jones – Matson Jones
87. Wedding Present – Sea Monsters
88. The House of Love – The House of Love
89. A.R. Kane – 69
90. Scott Walker – Drift

91. Leila – Like Weather
92. Deerhunter – Microcastle
93. Nick Drake – Pink Moon
94. Billy Bragg – Lifes a Riot with Spy vs Spy
95. Liars – Drums not Dead
96. Bjork – Homogenic
97. Jack – Pioneer Soundtracks
98. Beloved – Happiness
99. Martyn – Great Lengths
100. Bon Iver – For Emma, forever ago.