On his second proper album, Jens Lekman takes his operatic chamber pop to a higher level, and fills it with all of the charm of the old school and a unmistakeable sneer. Wildly descriptive and deeply decorated, Night Falls Over Kortedala is a complicated, magnetizing collection of loungey crooning.
The opening tympanic rumble that introduces the swaying violins sets the tone, albeit quietly, of the dramatic trip ahead. “And I Remember Every Kiss” jumps back and forth between over-the-top fanfare and the gliding of the verses with as much power as any producer from the 1950’s. “Sipping On the Sweet Nectar” puts a more fun bounce into the mix, with a tapping drum rhythm and more agile strings as Lekman sings of more decadent love. “The Opposite of Hallelujah” injects some of the humor and youth that makes Lekman such an anomaly in the indie world. The cheeky sing-a-long dances on piano, strings, and xylophone while Lekman breaks out one of his catchiest choruses. “A Postcard To Nina” continues you the theme with a sympathetic ode to a lesbian friend that even includes a motown sound. The variety and strength of Lekman’s croon down brick-lined streets is impossibly unique to this era.
“Into Eternity” has a slick rumba beat and a heart-melting, Parisian accordion sound among a handful of other sounds in the blend. Lekman keeps it real with “I’m Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You”, and mixes up a little funk jam on “If I Could Cry (It Would Feel Like This)”. “Shirin” flows downhill on the most noticeable drum track on the album, and his singing chorus is the most straightforward. “It Was a Strange Time In My Life” coasts by as softly, “Kanske Är Jag Kär I Dig” brings back the motown sound despite the Swedish title, and “Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo” closes the affair out with a doo-wop jam dominated by a wailing woodwind before bringing the accordion back one more time.
There’s no doubt that Jens Lekman brings the old school crooning sound back better than anyone ever has. As if from another time, Lekman’s orchestration is authentic, yet mixed with a modern cynicism as a change of pace. It’s both amazingly simple and complex at the same time, both challenging the ear and massaging the heart.
