Artist – Album: Jens Lekman – Oh You’re So Silent Jens
Released: 6th
August 2005
Sounds Like: The love child of Jonathan Richman and Amélie
Being a bit of a manly man (ha!), a heterosexual male with a beautiful sort-of-girlfriend (yes, it's not Facebook official yet, and yes, it will be awkward if I go round to hers tonight and she's read this...), I find it hard to reconcile just how much I love Jens Lekman. The guy is dreamy. In his heavily accented Swedish vocals, he weaves wryly humorous tales of love and life in your mid-to-late twenties, all over deftly orchestrated indie pop gems. His European style and cute romanticism mark him out as the musical equivalent to Amélie Poulain, a cultish icon for the bashful, mildly-geeky bloke.
Lekman has been a star in his native Sweden almost from the off, with 'Maple Leaves' and 'Black Cab' from the 2003 EP Maple Leaves receiving heavy radio rotation and 'You Are the Light' from his debut album When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog reaching #6 in the Swedish charts. International success has been harder to come by, although consistently high critical praise and the use of 'An Argument with Myself' in the latest Kindle advert means that he is slowly beginning to permeate the indie consciousness.
For those of you wishing to follow me down the path of Lekman-love, Oh You're So Silent Jens, a compilation taking pieces from his first album, his first three EPs and various other obscure or unreleased odds and sods, is the please to start. Along with the majestic 'Maple Leaves' ("she said it was all make believe, but I thought she said maple leaves") and the jaunty 'Black Cab', highlights include the heartfelt Television Personalities cover 'Someone to Share My Life', the piano led 'Pocketful of Money', the witty folk lullaby 'Julie' and the gorgeous 'Rocky Dennis' trilogy. Heck it, they're all brilliant.
Lekman has been a star in his native Sweden almost from the off, with 'Maple Leaves' and 'Black Cab' from the 2003 EP Maple Leaves receiving heavy radio rotation and 'You Are the Light' from his debut album When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog reaching #6 in the Swedish charts. International success has been harder to come by, although consistently high critical praise and the use of 'An Argument with Myself' in the latest Kindle advert means that he is slowly beginning to permeate the indie consciousness.
For those of you wishing to follow me down the path of Lekman-love, Oh You're So Silent Jens, a compilation taking pieces from his first album, his first three EPs and various other obscure or unreleased odds and sods, is the please to start. Along with the majestic 'Maple Leaves' ("she said it was all make believe, but I thought she said maple leaves") and the jaunty 'Black Cab', highlights include the heartfelt Television Personalities cover 'Someone to Share My Life', the piano led 'Pocketful of Money', the witty folk lullaby 'Julie' and the gorgeous 'Rocky Dennis' trilogy. Heck it, they're all brilliant.
Albumaday... rating: 10/10
1. At
the Dept. of Forgotten Songs – 1:32
2. Maple
Leaves – 3:59
3. Sky
Phenomenon – 4:34
4. Pocketful
of Money – 4:20
5. Black
Cab – 4:54
6. Someone
to Share My Life With – 3:32
7. Rocky
Dennis’ Farewell Song – 5:22
8. Rocky
Dennis in Heaven – 1:02
9. Jens
Lekman’s Farewell Song to Rocky Dennis – 3:55
10. Julie
– 3:02
11. I
Saw Her in the Anti War Demonstration – 3:11
12. A
Sweet Summer’s Night on Hammer Hill – 3:27
13. A
Man Walks into a Bar – 4:20
14. Another
Sweet Summer’s Night on Hammer Hill – 3:22
15. F-Word
– 4:36
16. The
Wrong Hands – 4:21
17. Maple
Leaves – 3:45
Listen to ‘Rocky
Dennis’ Farewell Song’ : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wXMr_JYTCs
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Also released on the 6th August:
1965: The Beatles – Help!
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