The Swedes are killing right now. No, they don't have the death penalty. And no, they have engaged in a offensive war in the modern era. But they are putting out of some of the best music this year. Full lengths from Shout Out Louds (in addition to an excellent remix EP featuring Ratatat and Architecture in Helsinki), the ever-improving Jose Gonzalez this year and a steady flow of remixes and reprints from The Knife make the British music look flimsy. While over-hyped British artists continue to crash and burn (Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys, The Fratellis, and Kaiser Chiefs this year), the fair-haired folks across the North Sea work in earnest, quietly etching themselves into the cultural landscape.
"Night Falls Over Kortedala", the first truly proper full length stateside from Jens Lekman, is no exception. "Night Falls" is instantly disarming, more so than any of the other elite albums this year. Lekman's voice is warm and relaxed, surrounded by insanely lush rock, orchestral, and vocal arrangements. The most flattering comparison, in my mind, is to Sufjan Stevens. Lekman draws on doo wop and surf with the eye of a hip hop producer rather than Stevens' viewing of traditional folk through a Baroque lens. While initially the sampled instrumentation comes off as choppy, their too-precise nature reminds the listener than Lekman has turned to the 60s for inspiration, not pastiche.
The professional distance Lekman imposes between music and audience is an endearing quality of the record. The Spector/Wilson-aping accompaniment never creeps too far into the mix, a point many producers fumble. The strings are never too heroic nor the horns too saccharine. The vocals are never overexuberant, lyrics insightful but never cutting. Lekman is a cab driver, ready to share an story but keeping his eye on the metre. It all works in such amazing concert, creating a mood of full contentment knowing that Jens has covered every base for you.
9.3/10.0
-RJR
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