If you don't know Jens Lekman, you should, and OH YOU'RE SO SILENT JENS, a compilation of his best work from the early 2000s, is an excellent place to get acquainted with this charming singer/songwriter. Bringing together work from his EPs and proper albums with singles and remixes, the set is solid through and through.
Like Stephen Merritt and his inspirations, George and Ira Gershwin, Lekman writes those rare songs that are funny, tender, clever, caustic, and heartbreakingly poignant all at once. His use of samples (often simple, yet perfectly so) and orchestrated chamber pop arrangements reveal a deep study of pop knowledge. But beyond both Lekman's skills as a sound architect and his uncanny knack with a beautiful melody, it is his surprisingly powerful lyrics and strangely affecting deadpan delivery that help make this a small-scale pop masterpiece.
What the critics say...
Uncut (p.85) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Arch, sardonic and playful, this is smartly constructed pop served up with mighty aplomb."
CMJ (p.4) - "For Swedish singer-songwriter Jens Lekman, life is a comic tragedy of misunderstanding. Luckily pain makes great EPs..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.102) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[A] surprisingly consistent listen....The gushing 'Maple Leaves' and 'Black Cab' are highlights..."
