CHRIS’ CRATE - NIGHT FALLS OVER KORTEDALA

Night Falls Over Kortedala: Jens Lekman

            This album is a long time coming for me. I first listened to it back when I was freshman in college, and it stuck with me. I immediately wanted to write about it, it transported me to a summer night or a conversation with someone that I hadn’t spoken to in a long time. After hundreds of listens I think that I am finally able to really talk about this album that has had such a profound impact on my musical tastes. This is an album that I find myself never getting tired of no matter how many times I put it on my turntable.

In truth, I don’t know if there is another album that I have listened to that encapsulates social awkwardness the way that Jens Lekman’s 2007 album Night Falls Over Kortedala does. From trying to connect with an estranged sister to pretending to be someone's boyfriend so that she can move in with her girlfriend or getting flipped off by a girl because you won’t stop talking. There is no shortage of honestly hilarious and awkward moments on this album that make the listener laugh and or want to hide under the table.

            Lekman has a rare ability to create songs that put the listener in the moment that he is describing and make them feel every moment of his embarrassment or joy. The first thing that also may strike you and either engage you or turn you off is Lekman’s voice. It is not what someone would consider to be traditionally “good” or sometimes “enjoyable” to listen to. In fact, an ex-girlfriend of mine described it as “trash” (don’t listen to her Jens, she secretly loved all your stuff anyway” which I can see. However, what is important is what he is singing about and the feelings that he makes the listener feel and relate to what he is saying. There is however, one song on the album that I feel completely disproves any doubt that Jens can indeed sing.

            This song is called “Your Arms Around Me” which serves as the start of the second side of the album. Up until this point, Lekman has used his baritone voice as the main driving force of the album. However, almost out of nowhere he pulls his falsetto out of his ass and accompanies it with some of the most angelic harp playing that I have ever heard in a song about cutting part of your finger off while slicing an avocado. I’m not even making this up and it somehow works so well! This is followed by my personal favorite song on the album “Shirin” which is a love letter to his hair stylist who helps to tame his receding hairline. As someone who is slowly mourning the loss of his own hairline, I can relate to this in so many ways.

            Another song that I think best surmises this album is “Kanske är jag kär i dig” which roughly translates to “I think I’m in love with you”. And this song encapsulates social anxiety and how easily a joke can be misinterpreted as you just being an asshole. In lyrics such as:

 “I offered you some chocolate/ You declined so sweetly and commented on my jacket/ "It makes you look like a lumberjack, but are you man enough to wear it?"/ I said, "It used to be my grand-grandfather's, what could I do but inherit it?"/ My words are just coming out all wrong/ I sure could use a little help/ I think I'm gonna drop my cool now/ The best way to touch your heart is to make an ass of myself”. Optimism and awkwardness permeate this whole album to create a listening experience that is completely unique.

I want to continue praising these songs, but I don’t want to ruin them for anyone. Because if you choose to listen to this album the best part is listening to the stories that Jens Lekman has concocted for the listener. Even more impressive is the fact that Lekman plays almost all the instruments on the album and recorded the album all by himself. This raw and sometimes rough sound on the songs helps to create an aesthetic to the album which I've never really heard before. He recently re-recorded the album adding new tracks and making the sound cleaner so you can’t find the original on streaming services, but you can find it on YouTube. I think this was a mistake, while I enjoy the new songs and the sound is nice there is something about the original that is just perfect to me.

            I used to put this album on during a summer night and lay at the base of my receiver and just listen to it with my windows open and I felt that I had lived the experiences that he was speaking of. And that is the best way to describe the album, it is a collection of awkward experiences that we can all relate to. Yet, with an optimistic outlook that defies explanation or reason. No matter what happens Lekman has a positive outlook on the situation that he is in. And in today's crazy world that is a rare thing. This is truly an album that I have fallen in love with, and I cannot recommend it enough. Please, please do yourself a favor and give it a listen. I promise you won’t regret it. I also recommend checking out his other work on streaming because everything he does is awesome in his own way. Jens Lekman deserves so much more attention than he gets, and each album is different from the last. He is absolutely worth the listen and each additional listen is more rewarding than the last.

Favorite Songs on The Album:

EVERY SINGLE ONE