This weekend I just discovered his music, nestled in the opening tracks of Pitchfork’s summer sampler, so please excuse lateness to the party. I hear a certain touch of Morrissey in Lekman’s occasionally overwrought lyrics and while I am no fan of Morrissey’s there is something about his expansive Sixties pop style arrangements that rub me the right way. Oh You’re So Silent Jens plays quietly as I type this and its hushed tones fit the quiet and sleepy mood I’m wrapped up in; arrangements are sparse but intimate, conveying a sense of warmth but remaining a notion of cheekiness.

Lekman has made available three EPs, totaling thirteen tracks, from his tours in 2004 and 2005 and they are definitely worth grabbing and giving a listen too if only to round out your collection. Over at music.download.com you can grab my favorite track of his Black Cab, a sweetened Sixties folk-rock number with flute like mellotron flourishes, a harpsichord melody, and a wonderful reverb dampened guitar like that sounds like it was lifted from vinyl pressed in ‘67. It is delightful and infectious enough that I have been driving my wife insane with my out-of-tune parroting of the songs chorus.

Now I just need to worry whether or not my hankering for more Lekman is a harbinger for a transition to adult contemporary programming in my life. I hope not. Just in case I’m going to have a Wolf & Cub chaser to keep me honest.