Swedish songwriter Jens Lekman’s supposed rejection of the cohesive album in favor of the pre-Sgt. Pepper’s collection-of-songs has given him almost as much press as his music, especially in light of the Internet’s gift of the Death of the Album feature to critics desperate for copy. But Lekman, who in interviews downplays his champion-of-the-single reputation, will be remembered not for leading some grand revolution in music consumption but for writing gentle, funny, odd love songs too chiseled and considered to be Conor Oberst and too open and earnest to be Stephin Merritt. 2004’s When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog and 2005’s Oh You’re So Silent Jens were both essentially compilations, even if only Silent was billed as such�Lekman’s 2004 debut was culled from songs recorded from 2000 on, and his follow-up collected a number of previously difficult-to-find EPs�but both were strong, gem-strewn albums, and since the conclusion of a brief stint in which Lekman renounced music and went to work in a bingo parlor he’s been speaking enthusiastically of a third. In the meantime, he’s uploaded three more limited-edition EPs to his website, totaling thirteen songs new to all but the most obsessive or resourceful fans.

Of the three, 2005’s You Deserve Someone Better Than A Bum Like Me, is the strongest, mostly for the opening three-minute confection �I Don’t Know If She’s Worth 900 Kr,� whose fingersnaps, doo-doo-doos, and dryly whimsical lyrics make up for its close resemblance to about three other Lekman songs; and for the closing �Tammy,� a gentle rendition of the Debbie Reynolds classic that proves that Lekman’s strange, half-monotone, occasionally amateurish croon can fit other writers’ material as well as it does his own�it’s an important document to have, especially given the dullness of �Someone to Share My Life With,� Lekman’s sole previous widely released cover. You Deserve resembles Lekman’s previous work more than the other two EPs, and this isn’t a bad thing; still, there’s a novel thrill in the lo-fi crackle of the I Killed A Party Again EP�which buries crystalline pop songs like �Hultsfred 98� in muddy live-chatter camoflauge, and at one point constructs an instrumental around Paul Simon’s �Diamonds in the Soles of Her Shoes��that makes it just as worth the nonexistent money you’re going to spend on it.

The final EP, from Lekman’s 2005 US tour, is less successful. Though the playful �Run Away With Me��billed as a �Christmas single� but identifiable as such only through sleigh bells and a perfunctory mention of Christmas Eve in the first verse�is well-executed and refreshingly light, the maudlin spoken-word piece �How Much You Mean to Me� is unlistenable, or at least the kind of thing you’d never admit is listenable, and the remaining new track��Me on the Beach��is pretty but unengaging. (The final track on the EP is �Jag Tyckte Hon Sa Lonnlov,� a Swedish-language version of �Maple Leaves� that brings the number of released versions of �Maple Leaves� up to three, which is nice from an archivist’s perspective but unnecessary from everyone else’s.) Even so, Lekman’s generosity is yet another feather in his cap, and the average quality of what he’s giving away for free speaks well for the prospective quality of what he’s going to sell. And maybe that’s why talk of Lekman’s contribution to the Death of the Album is so uninteresting�there’s no guile, no subversive, revolutionary agenda in Jens Lekman’s approach to music. He makes songs and releases them, as quickly as he can. That the songs are so often excellent is just our luck.

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