Jens Lekman’s Oh You're So Silent Jens, is a 17-track compilation, compiled from EP’s and collections released by the artist between 2003 and 2004. A top-charting pop star in his native Sweden, Lekman remains virtually unknown in the states, though any listener of indie-pop could easily warm to his charms. His classicist approach to pop song writing and baroque orchestration draw easy comparisons to Belle and Sebastian and The Magnetic Fields. Armed with a bank of witty lyrics, slightly detached demeanor, and a strong, smooth croon, Lekman is also reminiscent at times of Morrissey. However, to say that Lekman’s music is merely derivative of these other artists is selling his talent a bit short. Lekman does clearly pay homage to his influences on Oh You’re So Quiet Jens, but more importantly, he crafts a catalog of affecting pop songs, delivered with an irreverence that is all his own.
Any lover of classic pop music will notice that Lekman steals from the best throughout Oh You're So Silent Jens. The playful R &B of “Sweet Summer Night on Hammer Hill” is bolstered by the organ riff from Martha and the Vandellas’ “Heat Wave”. The latin rhythms and sweet, high harmonies of the lovely “Julie”, make the song sound like the great lost Simon and Garfunkel track. In a bold act of musical cutting and pasting, Jens even rips the lead guitar riff from the Beatles’ “What You’re Doing” and transplants it in his lovely “I Saw Her in the Antiwar Demonstration”. In Lekman’s songs these pop flourishes come off not as robbery so much as homage, as each of his song sounds completely different from the songs that they sample, yet retain the spirit of the song they sample from. Standout track “Black Cab” is the most completely fulfilled example of Lekman’s song writing intent in these regards. Using a sample of the harpsichord riff of The Left Banke’s “I’ve Got Something On My Mind”, Lekman builds a juicy piece of orchestral pop, complete with strings, up tempo beat, and lovelorn lyrics. Singing in a croon that floats just above the song, Lekman begins, “Oh no, Goddamn/I missed the last tram/ killed the party again/ Goddamn, Goddamn”. The song may be a piece of near perfect baroque pop, but Lekman’s detached vocals and rambling lyrics give the song a certain effortless, a playfulness that frees him from the pretensions that can sometimes mar even the best baroque pop. Even when Jens seems to be playing the sensitive folky, as on his sparse cover of Television Personalities “Someone to Share My Life With”, he always remains slightly aloof, aware of his emotions, if not quite sure exactly what they mean. At times, Jens can be downright silly, as on the hangdog acoustic ballad “ A Man Walks into a Bar”. Over lightly strummed rhythm guitar, Lekman sings “A man walks into a bar,/orders a beer and a bowl of peanuts,/ but the bar turns into a spaceship and the bartender gives him a haircut./I can’t remember the rest of that joke”. On this track Lekman has not so much created a joke song, so much as a song whose humorous lyrics free it from being being a plaintive folk ballad, and allow it to be a bemused piece of stargazing pop.
Many of the tracks on Oh You're So Silent Jens features a wide variety of productions surprises. Oddball sound effects link songs together, tracks like the marvelous “Maple Leaves”, contain light electronic flourishes, and “Pocketful of Money” drops a huge bomb with it’s ear catching sample of Beat Happening’s “Gravedigger Blues”. Clocking in at just under an hour, the album might seem a bit rambling at times, but the quality of the song writing paired with these pop flourishes give the album the feel of a multi layered piece of pop pastiche. By the end of the album, it’s hard not to be warmed by Lekman, who reminds you of that lovable foreign roommate or coworker you’ve ever had, whose goofy accent and fudging of american colloquialisms make him all the more charming. |