Jens Lekman Charms Chicago
By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 8, 2010 10:10PM
We didn’t get to ring in the New Year with our favorite Swedish singer/songwriter, Jens Lekman, but we did catch him at the Empty Bottle the next night, and he even reenacted a sweet little midnight countdown for us. This was a one-stop tour, so it’s no wonder he sold out all three shows of his December 31 through January 2 residency at the Empty Bottle as well as his Sunday matinee at Viaduct Theater. And even though the venue was at max capacity with seriously excited Lekman fans, it wasn’t a wild, overbearing crowd. Instead it was an easygoing affair, the room sublimely silent, enraptured by Lekman’s whimsical banter and heartfelt, melancholic pop ballads.
Backed up by a drummer, bassist, saxophonist, trumpeter and the lovely folk singer/violinist Marla Hansen, Lekman took the mic and toggled between acoustic and electric guitar and keyboard throughout the 90 minute set. He played a few of the songs that made us fall in love with him in the first place, like “A Postcard to Nina,” “Into Eternity” and “Maple Leaves. The charming Lekman managed to create a harmonious bond with the audience. While playing “A Handful of Feathers,” he blew a feather into the crowd, kept aloft by blowing on it along to the next person. And during “A Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill,” when Lekman sang “My heart goes like,” the whole crowd chimed in with “Bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp.”
He also played a few unpublished tunes. Lekman introduced “New Directions,” as a song about a list of Google maps and “if you follow them, you will get to a very sad place.” And “The End of the World is Bigger Than Love,” Lekman says, “is a song about putting things into proportion, something you have to do a lot if you’re Jens Lekman.” Further examples of his hopelessly romantic ballads delivered via witty narrative and a warm croon, these new songs serve as solace for all the Jens fans desperately awaiting his third album. And here’s hoping he hits the studio soon, because chances are we won’t see him back in Chicago until after his next album is released.