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Jens Lekman is talking from a house in Brooklyn. Gigwise is calling from a house in London. Our chat starts with a comparison of the weather, we peer from our respective windows out into the blustery world. Despite the distance apart our surroundings don’t seem to be that different. It is the kind of day that Jens Lekman’s music can often evoke: chilly and autumnal, the sort spent watching black and white movies in front of the fire, pouring over old vinyl records, dreaming, reminiscing. If there’s a nostalgic mood to his records, it’s evoked by the music that effortlessly taps into a history of pop music from doo wop to power ballads and much that lies between. He draws upon his own wide love of music and makes use of samples – the dramatic opener on his new album ‘And I Remember Every Kiss’ borrows from classical violinist Enoch Light.
He says of his sampling: “My songs just seem to work when they are mashed up with other people’s. Recently we’ve been playing ‘The Opposite Of Hallelujah’ with ‘Give Me Just A Little More Time’ by Chairman Of The Board – it’s the same key and same tempo and everything. A lot of times my songs just flow into other people’s.”
His new record ‘Night Falls Over Kortedala’ is perhaps his most diverse, taking in a myriad of styles and genres. It is also his most consistent, which he suggests is owing to the way it was put together: “I write songs all the time but I’ve never been that good at making records. This time my friends put it together and that worked well, they saw all these threads going through the songs that I’d not seen.”
Lyrically there are themes that run throughout the album: first kisses, first loves and broken hearts are all beautifully depicted. Whilst there is also a more specific focus that brings the album together, it being based around his life in Kortedala, Sweden – a contrast to the initial concept: “I wanted to make a world music record inspired by all my travelling. But I failed miserably and ended up making it about within 30 square metres of my apartment in Kortedala.”
His lyrics describe life in the neighbourhood with the romance and wit he is acclaimed for. It’s the attention to small details that characterise and intensify the songs though. He manages to bring to life the small everyday things often forgotten in songs. From subtle but wholly communicative glances and curious turns of phrase to avocados, asthma inhalers and drive-in bingos – they are all given their place on the album. Although he is often compared to the likes of Morrissey and Stephin Merritt, he has his own distinct style. Rather than being influenced by other songwriters Jens says he takes his inspiration from elsewhere: “I read a lot of poetry. I’m very inspired by comedy. I watched a lot of M*A*S*H and was very interested in the use of dialogue. I’m not sure if much of that came through on the record. It will much more in the future, I think.”
“My songs have always been personal, always from the first person and to someone close to me. But I want the characters to come alive and I think that happens through dialogue. Dialogue is used rarely in pop music. It’s only me and R Kelly doing it.”
One track from the album which triumphs with its use of dialogue is ‘A Postcard To Nina’. The characters are bought to life beautifully: the stern, interrogative father, his daughter Nina and her expressive eyebrow arches and Jens himself, clumsily attempting to bluff his way through dinner with the two. Meanwhile the penultimate song ‘Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig’ charms with its tales of awkward conversation “this of course has nothing to do with anything” he admits of his topic of discourse before coming to the realisation “the best way to touch your heart is to make an ass of myself”. And touch our heart it does.
Jens continues to tour the album, with gigs lined-up until the end of the year. The live set up varies from solo troubadour to big band Jens – do you have any preference between the two? “It’s different. If I’m playing a small town on a Friday night I prefer a band, it makes it more fun. But then if people have come to hear the songs, I think it’s nice solo sometimes, it’s more intimate.”
It’s advisable that you see Mr Lekman if you get the chance. If you’ve not already fallen for his charms, it’s doubtless you will by the end of the show.
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