If you believe the album’s mythology, then these songs were written by a lonely Inuit lad who had somehow landed in Stockholm. Of course, that’s all nonsense, as the album is most often attributed to one Mattias Olsson. Still, there’s something delightful about the thought of a young Inuit writing these starry-eyed songs about life, love, and home as he travels far afield from his native Alaska.

The Täby Tapes do occasionally get a bit too earnest and starry-eyed for its own good. And yet, I’m perfectly fine with that. We could all do with a little less skepticism in our hearts and minds, especially when said earnestness is adorned in utterly charming indie-pop that’s perfectly in-line with Sweden’s long history of immaculate melodies. And more often than not, what seems cloying soon enough becomes affecting, as is the case with songs like “Karin Boye’s Grave.” There, Nanook/Olsson laments a dead friend and urges her to rejoin the world of the living with lyrics like “You could have played in our band/We could have spread revolution through this land.”

Later, “St. George and the Dragon” and “Hey Fragile” have fun playing with gender norms and expectations, with the latter finding Nanook insulting a girl because she’s too good for him (“When I stumble you are the one I choose to shoot/‘Cause you are all that I could never be/All I despise and everything that I envy”). “Israel And Palestine — A Solution” pulls off the tricky task of using the age-old conflict as an extended metaphor for urban decay and tumultuous relationships while “Forget It Jenny, Love Is Just a Privilege For the Rich” closes the album on a delightfully snarky note concerning love’s lack of economic sense.

As a country, Sweden has produced more than its fair share of immaculate pop. The Täby Tapes is one of the country’s more offbeat pop offerings, but also one of its most layered and delightful. Regardless of whether you choose to believe Nanook’s mythology or not, there’s no denying his ability to craft earworms that tug at the heartstrings.