Of late, the Swedes have been dominating the headphones. The electro-pop stylings of Robyn and the impeccable songwriting and trademark growl of The Tallest Man on Earth have been in heavy rotation and show no signs of leaving my brain any time soon. One Swede, however, has been oh so silent for the last three years… until now.
The the impossibly clever and typically melancholy yarns of Jens Lekman have enraptured American listeners’ ears (and broken hearts) since 2005’s compilation record, Oh You’re So Silent Jens, and 2007’s brilliantly sad, Night Falls Over Kortedala (featuring songs entitled “The Opposite of Hallelujah” and “I’m Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You.”) Jens, however, has been quite quiet of late, but he has broken this hush with the uncharacteristically upbeat “The End of the World is Bigger Than Love.” It is a welcome break from the infinite sadness that tends to permeate Jens’ work.
Now, the characterization of this offering as “upbeat” is a qualified “upbeat.” After all, this is still Jens, the song is still about broken hearts and relationships gone awry, but the song’s tone actually matches the somewhat optimistic nature of the lyrics. Perhaps Jens’ outlook on love is really experiencing a small, tiny minuscule, minute, microscopic uptick in positivity. The song concludes as Jens croons, “A broken heart is not the end of the world/ the end of the world is bigger than love.” For us, this may seem obvious. For Jens, this is a revolution.