Jens Lekman opens Night Falls Over Kortedala with the sure step of an artist in complete command of his creative self. Imbued with epic grandeur, 'And I Remember Every Kiss' fades in with a melancholy timpani roll, a stirring string section and Jens crooning with every wistful bone in his body. After the first verse, the strings passionately swell into a wall of sound and with one gravity-defying pass-through Jens delivers his death blow to cynicism, illustrating just why many consider him one of the most important of the hopeful broken hearts coming of age in contemporary music. Like a modern day Chet Baker, Jens absolutely loves to sing about heartache. On 'Sipping On the Sweet Nectar', Jens introduces a dance beat to his string, horn and croon combo. And it only gets bigger from there with the tableside backbeat of 'The Opposite of Hallelujah' to the live favorite 'A Postcard to Nina', and the slender hooks of 'I'm Leaving You Because I Don't Love You' to the Frankie Valli purity of 'Shirin' an epic ode to Jens' barber which is reminiscent of a Mexican Folk ballad.