Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala

In the wake of a truly great album, it's easy to forget that other music even exists, let alone is constantly being released. Lucky for me, my friend had been preemptively raving about Night Falls Over Kortedala - "the album of the year, so far" he says - for quite some time, so in a week otherwise dominated by listening to or thinking about In Rainbows, I somehow remembered to head on over to eMusic to download the latest from Jens Lekman.

(Quick tangent: In a world where last.fm records everything I listen to, Amazon remembers the last thing I've looked at, and lala can recall every trade I've made, it's worth noting that a personal recommendation still trumps them all (I was going to go with "it's amazing" or "it's incredible" instead of "worth nothing," but it's really not amazing or incredible at all. Listening to music, loving it, and then telling as many of your friends as humanly possible, isn't that what being a music fan's about?). With all of these online mediums trying to tell me what to listen to, I'll take a personal, human recommendation any day, whether it be from Hip-Hop Man at Lakeshore or from my friend Andrew, who gave me the Jens tip. Just no recommendations from priests. That's how I ended up listening to P.O.D. Anyways, back to the review.)

Night Falls Over Kortedala makes me want to move. Rich with glorious swirling strings, handclaps, and other oddball bits of percussion, Lekman's genre-bending album - also filled with samples, I'm told - is indeed one of the finest of 2007. None of the songs here feel predictable (notice the abrupt tempo changes on "Shirin"), and it is this unconventional nature of the album that helps make it such an exciting listen. The doo-wop style backing vocals that open "Kanske Ar Jag Kar i Dig" sure aren't expected but they sure are excellent.

Lyrically, Lekman isn't always overtly ecstatic, yet he still has crafted a joyous album by taking lyrics like "so just lick your lips/these are the good times that you'll miss/when you are sipping on the sweet nectars of your memories" to create a tune that is more playful than regretful. That sort of song craft is what best defines Night Falls Over Kortedala. The melodies are generally upbeat and energetic, with witty lyrics that are at times a bit silly - a charming sort of silly and not the "I got it from my mama" sort of silly. Ultimately it is that Lekman charm that will keep fans coming back for repeated listens.