Jens Lekman

Jens Lekman must really miss the days of vinyl. The crackling string-laden intro to his new single, "The End of the World is Bigger than Love", has become a signature; either that or dude's running some seriously lo-fi sampling equipment.

So this is the Jens we know and love - including his flattened croon, which ought not to work on paper but is charming on record. The song lacks some of the inventiveness of those from his last record, but is enough to tide me over until a new release.

A few years ago I saw a video of "The Opposite of Halleliujah" with Jens just on guitar, voice and whistling. It gave the song a much more forlorn and haunting quality, and really highlighted the centrality of his voice to his records, despite the familiar production.

Jens Lekman: "The End of the World is Bigger than Love"