Jens Lekeman‘s first recorded material in four years is hardly a digression from his trademark swooping indie storytelling, but is laced with extra wit and a springy beat.
The title track is a burst of Paul Simon’s 80’s world music calypso, housing a loathsome view of drunk backpackers “pouring out like a tidal wave of vomit” from reggae nights in his self-exiled home of Melbourne as he walks the city’s streets.
Lekman has Google-mapped the EP on his blog allowing listeners to follow his lyrical journey, which goes a long way to realising New Directions and its lyrics such as “The 45 merges into E20, the E20 merges into E6” as a sprightly light funk AA route-planner through Gothenburg.
It’s back to the Lekman’s string backed indiepop for Waiting for Kirsten, an ode Kirsten Dunst, and there’s a Latin Roxy Music sophistication about Santiago on A Promise.
But its closing track, So This Guy At My Office, is tame reggae which feels somewhat of a let-down after the journey Lekman has shown us.
It’s a sporadic EP, veering between the witty, and sober, but is as enchanting as any of Lekman’s previous work.
7.5/10
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