Whether recording as Red House Painters or Sun Kil Moon, Mark Kozelek isn’t exactly known for his sense of humor. But on the new Among The Leaves, Kozelek’s usual self-flagellation shares space with relatively lighthearted lyrics, with mixed results: Song titles such as “I Know It’s Pathetic But That Was the Greatest Night of My Life” and “Not Much Rhymes With Everything’s Awesome At All Times” seem borrowed from a more ebullient songwriter like Jens Lekman, though the music’s not quite ecstatic. At times, his humor swerves from endearing to somewhat clueless: The straight-faced “The Moderately Talented Yet Attractive Young Woman Vs. The Exceptionally Talented Yet Not So Attractive Middle Aged Man” comes across as more vain than self-deprecating. But the more playful takes on romantic regret—Kozelek’s wheelhouse—are a nice shift for the downcast singer-songwriter, who turns his more somber attentions to themes of death and aging.