I Know What Love Isn't
(2012)
why you'll love it: Clever love songs, nostalgic hi-quality sound
why you'll hate it: Too melancholy, too simple
For the past ten years, I've found myself enjoying a lot of music I had previously considered unlistenable. The toughest shell to crack has been "love songs". In most cases they're insultingly shallow for the subject matter. Vague overwrought catch phrases sung by people who you could hardly relate to. Like the concept of love itself, I think most people want to embrace these songs in order to feel like a part of something, rather than be honest with themselves and the world.
Jens Lekman has managed to thread the needle and make honest, clever, and universally relatable love songs, like a select few before him. He's got the down to earth layman vocabulary and awkward delivery of Jonathan Richman. He uses humor and specific events told in a way so that it can remind you of a situation of your own, just like Dr. Frank. All that is here, in Lekman's first album in 5 years. He prefers sleeping on his arm until it becomes numb, and fooling himself into thinking it's someone else's. He's constantly hard on himself and never shy to harp on uncharacteristic fits of anger or stupid life decisions. You may not have specifically messed up a relationship to the point of her wishing you had simply cheated on her instead, or been beaten up over the phrase "get lost"; but Jens has an unbelievable talent to give you that "yeah, I've been there" feeling for so many of his songs.
As great as it is to have more fantastic lyrics, the enthusiasm of this album is quite lacking. A healthy dose of kitsch helped make his last album, Night Falls Over Kortedala all the more charming. Even last year's An Argument With Myself EP had a lot more humor and joy to it. In I Know What Love Isn't, Lekman has a much more serious and somber tone, and some cleverness or silliness seems to shine through despite that; as if he doesn't know how to honestly put things any other way. A lot of this album is thick with 70's / 80's cheese. Almost like smooth jazz, not too far different from Desroyer's last album.
Night Falls on Kortedala's use of 50's Americana and a theater musical songwriting style enhanced great songs, and made the less interesting songs at the very least, still fun. On this LP, the songs where Jens doesn't bring his his lyrical A-game are quite flat. "I Want A Pair of Cowboy Boots" and "She Just Doesn't Want To Be With You" suffer the worst.
Just like last week's album, I'm glad Jens is back and giving us more music; but this album did not live up to the expectations I had for it. "The End of The World is Bigger Than Love" is the only song on here I would put alongside his best material from the past. This guy is still a rare talent, but I think the stripped down and somber approach obscures what he has been capable of at full potential. I'd still rather have a "so-so" Jens Lekman album, than an entire Jimmy Eat World discography, though.
