That must be the longest review title I’ve ever posted. But stay with me.
Take my word for it; we receive the full panoply of review requests, for every genre you’ve ever heard of and some that both you and I haven’t.
Before I started writing this one I’d got going on a nice little bubbly synth-pop/dance song, also from a Swedish artist, only for it to dawn on me that the artist was AI generated. Pity, it was actually a good song.
But my interest is piqued more by artists like Jens Gustavson. It didn’t take me long to appreciate he belongs to that Swedish and mainly acoustic collective that live or work out of small rural communities, writing and producing memorable melancholia, the sort the Swedes excel at and which we have often reviewed.
And the type that would run a mile if Mr OpenAI or Claude came knocking on their door like the Grim Reaper.
I had to persevere with the album because it sounded like the complete antithesis of that synth-pop song to start with – dry, dull and a little depressing. But I’m glad I persevered because the more you listen to it the more Jens’ talents become apparent and a weight is soon lifted from your shoulders.
The album, ‘Trådar och spår från då och sedan’ is a collection of previously unreleased recordings, mostly made in Rissna, Sweden, (which appears to be in the middle of nowhere) between 2023 and 2026, with the mixing by Robin Lindqvist.
In his introduction to it he says, “Now, don’t assume it’s a country album just because it opens with a country song. Nor is it a reggae album just because it ends with something vaguely resembling reggae.” (And you know what, he’s right about that – they are and they do).
He adds, “This is music that may not fit neatly into any particular genre. I don’t want to lock myself into a specific category. I want to experiment, explore and let myself be inspired. If that makes my music difficult to define, so be it. I’d rather have fun and allow myself to make a few missteps than become a conformist. That’s the philosophy I’ve followed throughout my musical journey.”
And we will always champion that approach.
The track I selected here is ‘När musiken dog’ ‘(When the music died’) partly for that evocative title which suggests Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’, partly for the way he skillfully gels an acoustic folk ballad with haunting synthesised backing and occasional rock motifs throw in, in a way that I haven’t heard previously from this sort of artist and partly for that aforementioned melancholy that indicates someone who’s writing his final memoir in a cabin lost in the woods.
The lyrics read like an erudite piece of poetry. Well, a damn site more so than the junk that just won the Nobel Prize for Literature, that’s for sure.
You can probably interpret them in many ways. But that comment I made about a memoir keeps coming back to me like the looped track in his head that he sings about. Or perhaps a eulogy for musical opportunities that were never taken, or thwarted by others:
“When the music died, all the ghosts fell silent/There was nothing left to wish for then
Cold nights, heavy days/Chances we never took
But everything has a limit in the end/When everything you’ve created burns down”.
I often refer in these reviews to a British TV black comedy series in the 1990s, The League of Gentlemen; one that delivered more than its fair share of pathos as well as laughs.
One of its recurring characters was ‘Les’, the lead guitarist of the 1970s band Crème Brûlée, one that never quite made it, and who often finds himself in the company of latter day artists, label managers or A&R men, whom he suspects might help him resurrect the band and find fame.
But of course they can’t.
Les could be the character that Jens is portraying here. Or perhaps not at all.
It’s a track – and album – to be discussed down at the pub, over a few pints of real ale. Enjoy.
(Continues after the Spotify link).
The album is available digitally on most major music platforms.
Find him on:
Website: https://www.jensgustavson.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jens.gustavson.5
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jensgustavson/
