(Secretly Canadian)
I never want to enjoy music that goes out of its way to be poppy.
Poppy music suggests bright, bouncy, optimistic feelings. Rare is the artistic expression conceived in a period of happiness. Happy people don't need to express their state to consumers or other strangers. However, I can't deny the pleasures offered by a songwriter who is aware of the emotions assumed by poppy music and subverts them with lyrics that are dark, confused or satirical on the subject of human relationships and other follies.
Jens Lekman, a young singer/songwriter from Sweden, is so young that he could be Conor Oberst's little brother, which means that his New York Times and NPR profiles are still a few years away. While everyone from your pre-pubescent niece to your middle-age dentist is discovering Oberst's "new band," Bright Eyes, give Lekman's When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog a listen.
Lekman is self-consciously self-conscious (post-pop?). In "If You Ever Need a Stranger (to Sing at Your Wedding)," he offers his resume: "I know every song, you name it/by Bacharach or David/Every stupid love song/That's ever touched your heart/Every power ballad/that's ever topped the charts."
In "The Cold Swedish Winter," he quotes singer Cliff Richard's opinion that Sweden only offers "porn and gonorrhea" and sounds quite bemused. Like Leonard Cohen, Lekman is supported by women cooing backup vocals, but his persona sticks more closely to the bumbling, early Woody Allen. He sets one love song against the backdrop of a WTO riot.
Lekman offers enjoyable proof that not all young people have forgotten the past. His music is reminiscent, at times, of a mid-70s talk-show band's, filled with arrangements sweeping and cinematic although obviously home-recorded. He is respectful of tradition but can rarely resist winking at it. Discover him now while he's still having fun.
