Sondre Lerche

Jens Lekman's Oh You're So Silent Jens is one of my recent albums of obsession, so when a friend recommended Sondre Lerche as similar, I was psyched. And he is similar, almost weirdly so--the same neutral, pleasant voice, wandering songwriting, mischievious sense of humor. But he isn't . . . interesting. I don't get how someone so similar to Jens can so completely fail to hold my interest. There are a couple of songs I like--Two-Way Monologue is catchy--but Oh You're So Silent Jens was my soundtrack for at least a week straight, and still makes me smile to hear any of it. I can't figure out what the difference is, and it's bugging me! "A Man Walks Into a Bar" is one of the silliest but loveliest songs I've heard in ages; and now on re-listening I think I've underestimated Jens' voice--it has a hint of that bloodhound-heavy levity you hear in Johnny Cash or Stephin Merritt, and Sondre's voice is, now that I think carefully about it, pleasant but remarkably featureless. Maybe that's it, then.