Night Falls Over Kortedala

Jens Lekman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 9, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Secretly Canadian
• ASIN: B000V6KDL4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,253 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #84 in Music > Pop > Euro Pop > Swedish Pop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Halfway through the first track of Jens Lekman's finest offering yet, "And I Remember Every Kiss," a Lekman neophyte might be sure they've got him pegged. Here's another Scott-Walker-worshipping yungin; a precocious string-section crooner. To be sure, there's plenty of string-soaked melodrama here, and Lekman puts that modest Morrissey-esque croon to work throughout the album. But after the high camp Copa-Cabana disco of "Sipping on the Sweet Nectar," the breezy latin-flavored "Into Eternity," the acoustic lullaby of "Shirin" or the, uh, drive-in vibe of "Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo," it's clear Lekman's ambition and sense of humor can't be confined to one small corner of imitation or appropriation. Appropriation--in the literal sense, for that matter--is one of Lekman's great strengths, as evidenced by the new context he gives his many perfect samples, be it a drum loop from the Residents and Renaldo & The Loaf record Title in Limbo, or any number of lifted orchestral bits. Lekman weaves many of his samples so seamlessly into his presentation, one is often at a loss to distinguish samples from live instruments. The end result is something like a new millennium Brill Building, with songcraft at the helm, but awash in modern production technique. Lekman's world masterfully pairs the electronic with the human. Lekman's also a pro at the sort of wry lyrical melancholia one associates with the aforementioned Morrissey, or other contemporaries like Stephen Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. He's a lot less caustic, but still plays the biographical narrator stewing in life's near misses. He's got a real silly streak, however, just as quick to pen couplets like "my heart is beating, beating like Ringo/as I pull into the drive-in bingo," or "I took my sister down to the ocean/but the ocean made me feel stupid." These lyrical gems illustrate one certainty. Night Falls Over Kortedala is unabashedly precious. Lekman's meticulously crafted, symphonic indie-pop is all saccharine indulgence, but hey, he owns it, and that makes the payoff all the more sweet. --Jason Pace

Product Description

Like a modern day Chet Baker, Jens loves to sing about heartache. This is his first album in over three years, and Kortedala refers to a neighborhood in his hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden - "a depressing suburban hell". It also refers to a vague musical pop sound with hints of tropicalia that has been coming out of Gothenburg's clubs the last few years. "Night Falls Over Kortedala" features many previously unreleased live favorites and guest vocals from label-mate Frida Hyvonen and El Perro del Mar.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Jens, My Little Swedish Meatball October 17, 2007

By Brandon Whitfeld VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Jens Lekman has certainly created a unique persona in the indie world. Shy but smooth: a sensitive Swedish crooner awash in heavy, retro orchestral sampling that has made his newest record, "Night Falls Over Kortedala", a canny Lite FM-ish twinkie that manages to be both ironic and heartfelt. Yea, it's a sugary album. Although the songs occaisonally border on high camp, they never quite cross that uncomfortable line, proving Lekman to be a smart and qwerky maestro, capable of veering easily from tunefully expressing the lustful pangs of true love, debonair as he is, to the darker shadows of introspective longing. Lekman is a successor to Morrissey, in his witty and wounded lyrics, and his wavering falsetto voice. He is also perhaps THE quintessential opening act for a Belle and Sebastian show, but Lekman's fearless studio experiments and definite capabilities as a songwriter hint at something much more interesting and nouveau; his following will surely grow, but I'm hesitant just yet to declare his peak with this album. I think Lekman has a greater masterpiece in him, and I have no doubt we'll hear it soon enough.

Lekman has created a cohesive record that simply sounds great; the songs have excellent flow and smile-inducing production. Vocally, Lekman has never been stronger. But while his previous release, "Oh, You're So Silent Jens" was a bit of a mish-mash, more a casual compilation of songs than a legit album, I enjoyed it more. Stand-out singles worthy of continuous college radio play such as "Maple Leaves" and "I Met Her in an Anti-War Demonstration" and "Black Cab" I found more memorable than any particular track on "Kortedala"--and in that way I find his newest release to be a bit of a letdown, but certainly no disappointment. Just a mixed response.... It's a strange reaction, I know, to an artist I truly admire. While I haven't stopped playing the CD, none of the songs have made it to my ipod playlist.

In any case, any one moment on this record is worth six on virtually anything else out there in the indie twee world. Lekman is certainly a singer to watch and savour, and I relish his climb up the Soul Searching Ladder to the Stars. Read more ›

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars so sad, so much in love October 19, 2007

By Warrick Wynne

Format:Audio CD

Jens Leckman is so in love, with all kinds of people including the girl who cuts his hair, with a first kiss and with idyllic places in the country. He sings beautiful, soft, lush, sometimes funny songs about living and falling in and out of love. The funny thing is that his introspective self-analysis, couched in his deep calming voice, never seems self-indulgent. It's just life.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Jens at His Best November 1, 2007

By Marzipan

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Melancholy sweetness. This cd is true bliss; if you like his other albums you'll love this. A must have for fans of The Smiths, Sufjan Stevens and Andrew Bird.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pride's Downfall. January 13, 2012

By Abyssalmang

Format:Audio CD

I was trying to think of a way to describe how I feel about this album in a way that would encapsulate my love of it completely. The first time I went to review it here I stared at the screen for ten minutes and did nothing. I decided I just couldn't do it. Then today it hit me, the best way to describe this is the concept called "flash bulb memories." A Flashbulb memory is that phenomenon people describe when they say they remember where they were when JFK and MLK were assassinated, when John Lennon was killed, when the two towers fell, etc. Some major event in the history of their lives that stopped them in their tracks and made them remember what they were doing. Hearing this album for the first time is the closest thing I have had yet to that experience in my life. I remember a few days before being suggested this and not thinking it sounded that interesting. I saw a pic of Jens and rolled my eyes thinking, "Oh god its some pretentious indie singer/songwriter, that I'm sure has nothing special to offer." I decided to look into it anyway, I was having a dry spell with music and I thought why the hell not. I remember everything about the moment I clicked my mouse button and Heard "Sipping on the sweet Nectar." I probably listened to this album about ten times in that one sitting. More than I ever have before or since upon first listening. This didn't need to age on me at all the appeal was immediate and after almost three and a half years now it still hasn't gotten old.

Vocally Jens is very deep voiced and almost monotone, but he also can have an unexpected softness and range you wouldn't expect to hear from someone as Baritone as him.... His voice can be compared to other singers like Jonathan Richmond and Stephen Merritt, but think about the immense disparity between those two, such comparisons might be apt for professional reviews, but they do little justice for just how much Jens Voice can do. His voice seems at home complimenting pretty much any genre or emotion with little effort. English is not his first language, but I wouldn't know that if I hadn't already known he was Swedish before listening to this. Everything just seems effortless to him in regards to vocals.

Lyrically, His strength is in story telling and he has quite a lot of interesting ones to tell you. He seems to really enjoy happier light hearted stories about himself that are self depreciating in a way. In this LP and the album before it, the main message I would take from these as a whole would be to take yourself less seriously. Things don't seem to happen because of Jens on this alb, they happen to him. A postcard To Nina, a song about a friend of his who is a lesbian who wants to take Jens up on his offer to pretend to be her boyfriend to ease up her conservative father suspicions about her sexual orientation is a perfect example of this. Kanske is another one, he seems to be trying really hard to impress a girl, but she just continuously chides him on his efforts. The opposite of Hallelujah, which usually ties with Shirin as my favorite song on the album, also has a similar theme. Jens is trying to sound really deep and contemplative to his sister, but everything keeps going wrong for him in the conversation. Jens just seems to get into awkward and strange situations that kind of pop the balloon of his pride over and over again. Although I would see that as a similar theme among his songs, it is not the only thing he sings about. I'm Leaving you because I don't love you, for instance, has a more serious tone to it, but even that makes him seem unsure and awkward, more than it does definitive and on point. Every song on here at one point in time has been a particular favorite since first listening, both from a lyrical and instrumental standpoint.

Instrumentally this is a lot like other Twee Pop albums, Jens wears his influences on his sleeve and its not hard to see where hes coming from. That being said there are somethings that were unique about this at the time and to some extent today. Jens had a heavy use of sampling on this, that up on tell that point hadn't been done as much in this type of music. I wont say it was never done, but to this extent and with this much skill? I think not. All of the samples are beautifully added in and used. He had some rough spots in this regard on his first LP, but I think on this one he came very close to perfecting the use of samples. All the regular instrumentals are well played, not impressive from a technical standpoint maybe, but in adding to the overall sound, perfect in my opinion. He isn't always the most original artist, but he does the twee thing and the singer/songwriter better than all the others I have heard yet.

I have listened to this all the way through more than a thousand times, maybe more than that. It is an insanely high number is the main point here. In the song Maple Leaves that comes from an earlier album he says:

"Oh please god bring relief, even if it's only brief"

Even though I'm an atheist I have prayed devoutly for a new Jens Album since hearing this one. My hands come together in a futile gesture and chant this lyric in the hopes Jens will make a new album already... Ok so I don't really do that, but I do look up "Jens new album" in Google at least once every week for the past four years. So yes please bring relief even if its only brief already. If I don't get a new album, I might lose my mind completely, madness will finally defeat me...

In all seriousness I'll remember the first time I heard this album like it was the time I heard it yesterday, it always feels new and appealing. I just love it! Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars quite the swedish ladies' man November 10, 2007

By showurscars

Format:Audio CD

for you ladies out there, this album has great songs to swoon over (including but not limited to "into eternity"). when i listen to this album on my way to the train station, i can't help but strut my stuff. it's got great dance beats that are fun and upbeat.

listening to jens lekman in the car or at home is nothing like listening and/or seeing him live. his voice is flawless live. there's also a lot of horns and violins in his music. it's very orchestral yet with witty lyrics that are also silly at the same time. his harmonic arrangements are amazing and grandeur. you really want to listen to the words, all his songs tell a story. most of them ridiculous and funny. hilarious, really. and during many of his songs, like "a postcard to nina" he tells you the background story. more than you get from the song. it reminded me a little bit of sondre lerche when we saw him back in 2004. he gabbed a lot between his songs and you wished he'd just shut up and play. not jens, his stories were so personal and such a treat to hear. it's amazing that he's only 25 too.