Review Summary: Marry Me, Chicken
Finally Jens returns with a fully focused effort after releasing a slew of more minor works over the last decade, and even more impressive is that he's delivered a concept double album that's based on an accompanying book. Ooh, la dee da. As ever Lekman remains an acquired taste, often his tunes are on the saccharine side of things to say the least, and that voice can paint him as the fey Swedish Morrissey. You say that sounds like the definition of indie schmindie? Quite possibly, but in this case he's always boasted the melodic and lyrical chops to rebuff any such slanders.
Despite being a double set this album never gets exhausting or dull, it's quite sprightly with more than a few ambitious lengthy freewheeling arrangements, sometimes reminiscent of the more epic numbers Sufjan Stevens included on 'Illinois'. Perhaps aware that 80 minutes of the Lekman singing tone is a lot he does invite Matilda Sagren to duet or take the lead on four occasions in the tracklist; I'm not sure her vocal tone is the most ideal he could have found, but at the same time her efforts are still appreciated for the variety and also in regard to the female perspective they provide to the storytelling.
As the argument goes with all double albums...yes, there's probably a tighter ten song record hidden here. Certainly the vintage 'Candy from a Stranger', 'Speak to Me in Music', 'Wedding in Leipzig', 'On a Pier, On the Hudson' and 'Wedding in Brooklyn' all rank among his best songs to date and would make the cut on any edited playlist. I think it would be hard to argue this ambitious song cycle needs a haircut though, it flows extremely well and of course you wouldn't want to chop up the underlying story anyway.
Perhaps this lyrically dense and melodically rich outing could still prove impenetrable for those unaccustomed to Lekman, but if you have the perseverance it will be rewarded; this ends up close to some sort of meisterwerk, an endearing out of step enterprise that's wholly refreshing.
