Jens Lekman
Rocky Dennis EP (Secretly Canadian 101)

It wouldn't take much for any CD inspired by Rocky Dennis to win me over; fortunately, this one is actually good. (Are there others?) Jens Lekman does Bacharach-by-way-of-Stephin-Merritt; supremely pretty and sensitive ballads quite in their own world. This EP is one of those utterly private pleasures, like Belle & Sebastian used to be, though far more dramatic. Lines like "I would cut off my right arm/To be someone's lover" grab me every time, and the base of piano, strings, plaintive monotone male vocal, and the occasional sample show that this guy knows where it's at.

Wussier (but more melodic) than Tindersticks, hipper (and less showtune-y) than Magnetic Fields, Jens Lekman is a big, beautiful disfigured face on the indie music scene. As we learned from Mask, it's the heart that really matters. Rocky Dennis sings beautifully on behalf of everyone who's ever felt ugly.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Savage Pampas