Jens Lekman

Jens Lekman

Jens Martin Lekman (born February 6 1981 in Angered, Sweden) is a Swedish indie pop musician. His music can be described as guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings; the lyrics are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. His work is often compared to that of Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields, Jonathan Richman, and Morrissey.

Music career

Jens Lekman recorded and released much of his material privately from 2000 to 2003 on CD-R. Because one of his songs during this time was entitled "Rocky Dennis' Farewell Song to the Blind Girl", Lekman was mistakenly referred to as Rocky Dennis for a while (the song was actually written from the perspective of the main character of the 1985 film Mask). Lekman says that it was a "mistake": "someone thought that was my real name cause I had a song about him, and then radio picked up on it, and I never had a chance to change it". He put the confusion to rest with his Rocky Dennis in Heaven EP (2004).

His self-released 7" vinyl EP Maple Leaves caused a big stir in 2003, mainly due to sound files circulating on file sharing networks. When the same EP was released on CD by the Swedish independent label Service Records in the autumn, he was already a well-known name. The songs "Maple Leaves" and "Black Cab" were heavily played on Swedish national radio. He soon signed a contract with the American label Secretly Canadian for releases outside of Sweden. Heavy touring and his debut album soon followed.

His first album When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog was released in 2004, and consisted of recordings made between 2000 and 2004 (some tracks had been previously released independently by Lekman). The album attracted attention among the alternative music press in both Europe and the US. The song "You Are The Light" was a successful radio hit, and a video received some rotation in the Nordic MTV and ZTV. In Sweden the album reached #6 in the national chart. Lekman was nominated for three Swedish Grammies, three P3 Guld and three Manifest awards, as well as dubbed album of the year by Nöjesguiden.

A concert film shot from Lekman's sold-out show with José González at Göteborg's concert hall in December 2003 was broadcast by Swedish national television two times in 2005. In June 2005, a compilation CD of Jens' first three EPs, with extra tracks, was released as Oh You're So Silent Jens. Lekman also has a cover of Scout Niblett's "Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death" on Secretly Canadian's SC100 compilation.

The new album Night Falls Over Kortedala was released in Sweden on September 5th 2007 and is due for release in the rest of the world October 9th, with the single "Friday Night at the Drive-in Bingo" preceding the album's release.

Live performances by Lekman have differed in style; at times he has performed alone with only a guitar and a CD player, sometimes doing a cappella versions of his songs, while at other times he has been accompanied by a choir and string quartet. Recently, he has toured with an all-female back-up band, dressed mostly in white, that provides basic rock instrumentation as well as horns and backing vocals.

Discography

Albums / Compilations

• When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog (Service Records, 7 April 2004 / Secretly Canadian, 7 September 2004) - A collection of recordings 2000-2004
• Oh You're So Silent Jens (Service Records, 8 June 2005 / Secretly Canadian, 22 November 2005) - A collection of previously released singles, EPs, and compilation appearances
• Night Falls Over Kortedala (Service Records, 5 September 2007 / Secretly Canadian, 9 October 2007) - A collection of recordings 2004-2007

EPs

• The Insect EP (Self-released, 2000) - 20 copies
• 7" Vinyl EP (Self-released, 2003) - 250 copies
• VHS-EP (Self-released, 2003) - 10 copies
• Maple Leaves (Service Records, 1 October 2003 / Secretly Canadian, 3 February 2004)
• Rocky Dennis in Heaven (Service Records, 21 January 2004 / Secretly Canadian, 6 April 2004)
• I Killed a Party Again (Self-released, 29 May 2004) - 100 copies
• Julie (Service Records, 28 July 2004) - 2000 copies
• You Are The Light (Secretly Canadian, 17 August 2004)
• The Opposite of Hallelujah (Thievery / Evil Evil, January 2005)
• Live at Stora Teatern (Secretly Canadian, 15 February 2005)
• You Deserve Someone Better Than a Bum Like Me (Self-released, May 2005)
• USA October 2005 (Self-released, October 2005)

Singles

• Jens Lekman/José González (Service Records, January 2004) - 300 copies
• El Perro del Mar/Jens Lekman (Secretly Canadian, 30 October 2004)
• Jens Lekman/Blood Music (Insound, November 2006)
• Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo (Service Records, 14 July 2007) - 800 copies

Compilation appearances

• En Garde Fanzine CD-R (2003) - contains "F-Word" and "Sky Phenomenon"
• Based on a True Story (2004) - contains "Be Good"
• Accelerator Compilation (July 2004) - contains "The Wrong Hands"
• Risky Dazzle: A Service Party Shuffle (Jan 2005) - contains "Maple Leaves", "And I Remember Every Kiss (Demo Version)" (previously unreleased), and "You Are the Light (Reprise)
• Rallye Cloak 02: Swim Sweet Swedish (24 August 2005) - contains "Boisa-Bis-O-Boisa"
• Kocky - Kingdom Came (2007)
• SC100 (24 April 24) - contains "Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death"
• Four Songs by Arthur Russell (September 2007) - contains "A Little Lost"

References

• Jens Lekman Interview by Salvatore Alessandro, Indiepop.it
• Schreiber, Ryan, "Jens Lekman Scraps Second Album, Goes on Hiatus", Pitchfork Media, 12/16/2005. Template:Dlw

External links

• Jens Lekman's homepage
• MapleLeaves.se - the Jens Lekman fansite
• Secretly Canadian
• Service
• "You're Not So Silent, Jens", PopMatters interview (10/2005)
• "20 Questions with Jens Lekman", The Line Of Best Fit' ' interview (07/2007)
• musicohm.com: A review of You're So Silent, Jens
• "An interview with Jens Lekman, August 2007", The Line Of Best Fit'
• An Interview with Jens Lekman at Pitchfork Media
• Interview with Jens Lekman on Kevchino.com