Jens Lekman

Perhaps Swedes are just more comfortable being heartfelt romantics, but it takes a certain chutzpah to sing a line like, “sipping on the sweet nectar of your memories.” Credit Swedish indie-pop singer-songwriter Jens Lekman, who wears his heart (and his apparent affection for Belle & Sebastian) on his sleeve. His last full-length, 2007’s Night Falls Over Kortedala, was warm and sentimental, but never cloyingly so, relying on lush melodies and the production’s vinyl-like crackle to smooth over his often clumsy (but endearing) narratives. Lekman’s twee-pop confessionals, like those on the new EP An Argument With Myself, may not appeal to a certain subsection of concertgoers who just want to bump and grind all night, but it’s peppy and occasionally funky (hopefully he brings his mini horn section), certainly a worthy soundtrack for a sloppy kiss.

Updated 09/28/2011