Listen to and buy Jens Lekman‘s “An Argument With Myself”: Amazon | iTunes | Secretly Canadian
In his new EP “An Argument with Myself”, Jens Lekman ventures, to characteristically charming effect, into myriad flirtations with unfamiliar genres. On this first release in four years, as in all his older work, his lyrics carry the songs, entrancing listeners with his strikingly candid and observant stream-of-consciousness storytelling. Lekman’s lyrics keep the album compelling even as the Swedish indie pop singer-songwriter dallies with reggae, tropical, and Asian influences alongside well-crafted strings and horns. Lekman arranges rich musical settings for his words, weaving changes in his narration seamlessly into the orchestrations around them, and elevating conversational details into meaning that is both complex and earnest.
Lekman announces the EP’s first major foray out of his usual genre description right in his lyrics, explaining, as the first song’s perky pace gives into a lax, off-beat rhythm, “and now I’m walking by Bev & Micks’s backpacker hostel on Victoria Street/where it’s reggae night tonight, and the backpackers are pouring out like a tidal wave of vomit.” As a listener, you’re instantly transposed into the scene he’s painting, irked by rowdy, offensive gap year travelers – sucked into the perfect emotional state to continue in his half-petty, half-heartbreaking internal debate.
“Waiting for Kirsten” is hilarious as a true drunken story, and manages to expand in social commentary pretty sneakily. The following track, ”A Promise”, takes that commentary home with a more direct and delicate delivery, an intimate and hopeful message to a sick friend. The two songs are aesthetically different attacks on similar themes of societal dysfunction, and show Lekman’s ability to circle a theme artfully.
“New Direction” is heralded by regal, flourishing horns at its start, breaks into a steady rock rhythm, then opens up with Asian-influenced high female vocals, all while Lekman spews the fast-paced, turn-by-turn route to somewhere unknown. Complete with sax and trumpet solos, the song offers wordless breaks between dizzying directions, finally, touchingly, concluding, “from this point you will never be alone.” The EP ends cleanly with the next cut, conversational love note “So This Guy At My Office”.
Lekman has a talent for carrying off tropes that would come off gimmicky from other musicians. He sings about love and loneliness, frustration with society, and turns adorable anecdotes into revealing songs, all to catchy, cheery pop melodies, but he is never twee, tired, or trying too hard. His diction and delivery are flawless and surprising, and he knows how talk around a feeling instead of naming it. He’s forthright but not obvious, and quirky, but not annoying. “An Argument With Myself” is a rather oddball set of songs, even for Lekman, but it’s a strong refresher after his long silence. Stream it below.
