Jens Lekman

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Say what you will about his lyrics(I happen to like them) but I dont remember the last time I heard anyone write such immediate and infectious pop songs. The guy really has a talent for writing songs/melodies that hit you the first time you hear them. What's your verdict on the man?

― Boxcar (Crapstone), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 16:46 (twenty years ago)

sucks

― sucks, Tuesday, 9 November 2004 16:54 (twenty years ago)

No. He is good. You suck.

― no, you suck, Tuesday, 9 November 2004 17:11 (twenty years ago)

Ze Zwedishen ist Zuper.

― Holga from germany. Or is it Switzerland?, Tuesday, 9 November 2004 17:16 (twenty years ago)

...is great

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 17:44 (twenty years ago)

he's embarassingly earnest which is both good and bad at times. I can't stand his album production, but I do like some live acoustic tracks that I've heard.

― Avi (Avi), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 19:20 (twenty years ago)

Is he worth seeing live? For $1? There'll be cheap beer, too, I should add

― Sonny, Ah!!1 (Sonny A.), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 21:30 (twenty years ago)

Yes. I don't know much about him, but I saw him play at a tweepop festival in Sweden and it was fun. Definitely worth $1.

― emil.y (emil.y), Tuesday, 9 November 2004 23:40 (twenty years ago)

i like his album, i hear the singles are as good or better. sweden is finally living up to the hype with jens, radio dept, corduroy utd, suburban kids with biblical names, it's a gold mine.

― keith m (keithmcl), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 01:48 (twenty years ago)

I've got his North American EPs and picked up his album and another EP in Stockholm. While I do think that the general excitement about him is a little over the top (teenage girls swarming him, etc), I like his stuff a lot. "Black Cab" is easily his most accessible single. I haven't seen him live, but it will definitely be worth a dollar!

And yeah, Sweden being a goldmine seconded - Labrador has being releasing some of their best stuff recently...

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Wednesday, 10 November 2004 09:08 (twenty years ago)

eight months pass...

mmmm so dreamy

― dahlin (dahlin), Friday, 5 August 2005 11:16 (twenty years ago)

hehe. i love him.

― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Friday, 5 August 2005 11:25 (twenty years ago)

something about his juvenile lyrics are so pretty.

― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Friday, 5 August 2005 11:26 (twenty years ago)

that, and he's GORGEOUS

― dahlin (dahlin), Friday, 5 August 2005 11:35 (twenty years ago)

well i don't know about that....but i like him.

― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Friday, 5 August 2005 11:39 (twenty years ago)

i'm trying to convince him to become my friend. but i'm not sure it's working. i bet you'd have more luck, chris. you have a dog!

― dahlin (dahlin), Friday, 5 August 2005 11:41 (twenty years ago)

Very few things in the world are worse, but I guess maybe genocide.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 5 August 2005 11:41 (twenty years ago)

worse? than being my friend? gee, thanks!

― dahlin (dahlin), Friday, 5 August 2005 11:46 (twenty years ago)

You've never picked me up from the airport even once.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 5 August 2005 11:48 (twenty years ago)

true. but i'll call you a cab any day

― dahlin (dahlin), Friday, 5 August 2005 11:52 (twenty years ago)

A Black Cab?

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Friday, 5 August 2005 12:40 (twenty years ago)

you know where i'm going here...
nice

― dahlin (dahlin), Friday, 5 August 2005 12:44 (twenty years ago)

He does a guest spot on a re-recording of one of New Buffalo's track (on her latest EP).

His show here earlier in the year was a highlight.

― Mil (Mil), Friday, 5 August 2005 22:12 (twenty years ago)

more like a death cab. he sucks.

― ihope (ihope), Friday, 5 August 2005 23:11 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

His production is top.

― lifloak, Friday, 23 September 2005 10:41 (twenty years ago)

Maybe I will go to see him play in NYC or Boston.

― youn, Friday, 23 September 2005 11:03 (twenty years ago)

his voice is better than his songs

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 23 September 2005 11:05 (twenty years ago)

I'm listening to "Do Impossible Things" from his site on secretly canadian, and it's pretty good, but I agree his songs can be hit or miss. He sometimes sounds like Scott Walker.

― youn, Friday, 23 September 2005 11:14 (twenty years ago)

I was laughing while listening to 'You Are The Light" this morning on the way to work. I love his records.

― marianna (mariannapm), Friday, 23 September 2005 12:14 (twenty years ago)

"you are the light" is awful

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 23 September 2005 12:17 (twenty years ago)

Coming from someone who only seems to make negative comments on ILX in recent months, why doesn't that surprise me?

― marianna (mariannapm), Friday, 23 September 2005 13:41 (twenty years ago)

"You Are the Light" is good. Jens is good. My only misgiving about him is that so far he never seems to live up to his influences (Walker, yeah, but more specifically Magnetic Fields) and falls somewhere between Fan Modine and Her Space Holiday in my hierarchy of Merritt-alikes. Prove me wrong, Lekman.

― marc h. (marc h.), Friday, 23 September 2005 16:06 (twenty years ago)

well, maybe above Fan Modine, too.

― marc h. (marc h.), Friday, 23 September 2005 16:12 (twenty years ago)

I don't only make negative comments : (

the david berman poem that the title and verse come from is good

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 23 September 2005 16:12 (twenty years ago)

I wish more of his songs were like "You Are the Light". He's no St. Thomas, howev. That guy is my favourite Scandinavian. Except Tuomas.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 23 September 2005 16:50 (twenty years ago)

I didn't know tuomas was scandinavian

"yoo-eh, ah go-ut boo-ested" is what makes "you are the light" awful, otherwise it's just a bit boring

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 23 September 2005 16:56 (twenty years ago)

when does he say that?!

― ken taylrr has gone off the internet because of you (ken taylrr), Friday, 23 September 2005 17:12 (twenty years ago)

Is Finland not Scandinavian? (I am wholly ignorant of European Geography)

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 23 September 2005 17:14 (twenty years ago)

I think of scandinavia as sweden-norway-denmark

finland and iceland and stuff are nordic but not scandinavian, maybe

finnish people may disagree, if they like

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 23 September 2005 17:20 (twenty years ago)

I used to know a Finnish guy who described himself as "from Scandinavia", but maybe he was just simplifying for the dumb American.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 23 September 2005 17:26 (twenty years ago)

"you are the light" is the only Jens Lenkman song worth listening to, and its shelf life is like 10 listens.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Friday, 23 September 2005 17:27 (twenty years ago)

Try to get hold of the Rocky Dennis (his pseudonym for a while before he got well known) version of the Maple Leaves ep - better versions on there plus a great song that samples Beat Happening not on the Jens version. It's a rare single but I think it's getting reissued on a comp soon.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Friday, 23 September 2005 17:46 (twenty years ago)

scandanavia = iceland norway sweden finland denmark.
sweden and norway and denmark share a lot of language, whereas iceland is more isolated in its language/culture, and finland is totally crazy awesome in language. at least that's what i've come to understand from reading the economist.

― carly (carly), Friday, 23 September 2005 18:11 (twenty years ago)

I read the economist

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 23 September 2005 18:14 (twenty years ago)

i know, it's good, right?
i bought my dad a subscription for christmas/hanukkah last year when i was a wealthier and better daughter.

― carly (carly), Friday, 23 September 2005 18:18 (twenty years ago)

it's quite expensive

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 23 September 2005 18:44 (twenty years ago)

how did you know I read the economist?

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 23 September 2005 18:45 (twenty years ago)

no, i didn't. i was just being enthusiastic about it. i sensed an immediate camaraderie re: the economist.

― carly (carly), Friday, 23 September 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)

a few years ago they did a special report on scandanavia, which was awesome, and which i have been milking ever since whenever someone brings it up. i learned that the icelandic word for computer is a word that means female soothsayer, tulva? or something like this, because there's a national aversion to incorporating english/non-icelandic words into the language.

― carly (carly), Friday, 23 September 2005 18:53 (twenty years ago)

nice but I still think iceland and finland are trying to jump on the bandwagon

― RJG (RJG), Friday, 23 September 2005 18:55 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 50 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

hell, have a top 10 JL list I wrote as well: http://www.mintmagazine.co.uk/music/all-hail-west-texas-004-jens-jens-jens/

― Blue Collar Retail Assistant (Dwight Yorke), Wednesday, 29 August 2012 09:57 (thirteen years ago)

feelin weird about jens these days, half the time i love his songs, half the time his lyrics just make me cringe - i think i prefer it when he's vague and metaphorical, like the cowboy boots song, to when he's telling some long rambling specific story, like the world moves on. the kirsten dunst song on the EP was particularly awful.

― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 29 August 2012 15:07 (thirteen years ago)

I thought all the last EP except the main track were pretty dull. Will check the album mainly because I want to want to see him live (he plays my town in about 3 weeks) as I never have. Still love most of his back cat..

― Cragenham Craig (Craigo Boingo), Wednesday, 29 August 2012 21:47 (thirteen years ago)

yeah the EP did nothing for me

― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 29 August 2012 21:49 (thirteen years ago)

i like a few on the new one but am having trouble getting excited about it

― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 29 August 2012 21:49 (thirteen years ago)

hm. I liked "Waiting For Kristen" (esp when his voice goes up for the "VIP lines" part).

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 August 2012 22:00 (thirteen years ago)

after a few listens...I don't mind it. It's all pretty low-key really. Nice enough, but there's nothing as disc-friendly as 'Sipping on the Sweet Nectar', or as outright BRILLIANT/10/10/ALL TIME CLASSIC as 'A Postcard to Nina' or whatever. Hmm.

― Blue Collar Retail Assistant (Dwight Yorke), Thursday, 30 August 2012 00:01 (thirteen years ago)

*disco-friendly, even

― Blue Collar Retail Assistant (Dwight Yorke), Thursday, 30 August 2012 00:01 (thirteen years ago)

god, 'sweet nectar' has been my absolute ANTHEM this summer

i like the title track on the new 1 a lot, havent listened to the rest enough

― johnny crunch, Thursday, 30 August 2012 00:15 (thirteen years ago)

New album is really understated but so beautiful. I'm hearing some Prefab Sprout influences in a few songs which is no bad thing.

― Kitchen Person, Saturday, 1 September 2012 07:14 (thirteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

Just saw him live for the first time (a fan since 'Maple Leaves' came out. GREAT show, he covered Ten City's 'That's The Way Love Is' rather splendidly. Such a natural performer.

― Cragenham Craig (Craigo Boingo), Friday, 21 September 2012 21:39 (thirteen years ago)

*out)

― Cragenham Craig (Craigo Boingo), Friday, 21 September 2012 21:39 (thirteen years ago)

He's pretty cool. Did he have other people on stage? I'm seeing him in Glasgow next month.

― Eyeball Kicks, Friday, 21 September 2012 23:10 (thirteen years ago)

Julia out of The Ladybug Transistor was on bass, I didn't recognise the others but there was also a drummer, keyboardist, violinist on stage. A fine band, they sounded properly great.

― Cragenham Craig (Craigo Boingo), Friday, 21 September 2012 23:50 (thirteen years ago)

six months pass...

I'm not usually this soppy, but he turned up at a fan's wedding and provided the music during the ceremony. I love the way that he still performs shows requested by fans (I saw him live for the first time a couple of years ago because he came all the way to the UK for a charity show after one such email).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB7LE2hJSBk

― Jill, Monday, 8 April 2013 23:11 (twelve years ago)

so rad

― johnny crunch, Monday, 8 April 2013 23:22 (twelve years ago)

aw.

― a similar stunt failed to work with a cow (Merdeyeux), Monday, 8 April 2013 23:46 (twelve years ago)

That was so moving. Perfect song choices too. What a guy!

― Kitchen Person, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 21:57 (twelve years ago)

that's awesome. jens seems like a good guy.

― tylerw, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 22:02 (twelve years ago)

That is lovely.

― ineloquentwow (Craigo Boingo), Tuesday, 9 April 2013 23:40 (twelve years ago)

one year passes...

heat http://pitchfork.com/news/56528-jens-lekman-shares-wwjd-mixtape-featuring-unreleased-songs-wwjd-i-remember-and-whats-that-perfume-that-you-wear/

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, 2 September 2014 17:46 (eleven years ago)

three months pass...

this guy is good

― Treeship, Friday, 12 December 2014 03:35 (ten years ago)

i like the one about thwarted artistic impulses. "i picked up a seashell to illustrate my homelessness / but a crab crawled out making it useless."

― Treeship, Friday, 12 December 2014 03:36 (ten years ago)

That's probably my favourite Jens lyric. Love this guy.

― Kitchen Person, Friday, 12 December 2014 09:14 (ten years ago)

two years pass...

https://www.sounds.nl/detail/3607858/cd/jens_lekman/life_will_see_you_now
http://ew.com/music/2016/12/22/most-anticipated-albums-2017/

news of a new album Life Will See You Now out 17/2 has leaked out it seems

― ufo, Friday, 23 December 2016 04:22 (eight years ago)

That's great news. He's touring in March too.

― Kitchen Person, Friday, 23 December 2016 10:56 (eight years ago)

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/jens-lekmans-new-lp-life-will-see-you-now-out-in-february-listen-to-whats-that-perfume-that-you-wear/

― Kitchen Person, Wednesday, 4 January 2017 16:47 (eight years ago)

http://www.jenslekman.com/records/smalltalk.htm

'Hotwire The Ferriswheel' is a duet with Tracy Thorn, and 'How We Met, the Long Version' is Postcard #29

it's nice to see him working with samples again

― ufo, Wednesday, 4 January 2017 23:32 (eight years ago)

one month passes...

the new album is pretty disappointing overall, it's more energetic than I Know What Love Isn't, but the music & lyrics are both quite meandering. the songs on I Know What Love Isn't were generally stronger despite the very bland arrangements

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgSC6Kh0N5s

the first three tracks are the best but probably could have been Kortedala b-sides

― ufo, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 17:34 (eight years ago)

one month passes...

I love this album.

― Jeff, Friday, 31 March 2017 16:53 (eight years ago)

one month passes...

Now the sun is out this album makes more sense than in cold, dank February.

― Dan Worsley, Sunday, 14 May 2017 16:31 (eight years ago)

One of my favorites of the year.

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 14 May 2017 18:02 (eight years ago)

Yeah, this is a wonderful album. I do prefer his previous two, but there's so much to love here. Looking forward to playing it more now the sun is out as Dan says.

― kitchen person, Sunday, 14 May 2017 19:03 (eight years ago)

how can i tell him is so devastatingly pretty

― meekseeks mill (voodoo chili), Sunday, 14 May 2017 20:26 (eight years ago)

seven months pass...

i found this album a bit disappointing but i am really looking forward to seeing him in march, the venue has a capacity of 50 so it should be very intimate

― ufo, Saturday, 16 December 2017 02:10 (seven years ago)

I loved it enough for it to place

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 16 December 2017 02:15 (seven years ago)

the first three tracks are great but then the rest was just ok, which is only disappointing by his very high standards

― ufo, Saturday, 16 December 2017 02:20 (seven years ago)

“Evening Prayer” is a beautiful song, conceptually and musically.

― treeship 2, Saturday, 16 December 2017 02:41 (seven years ago)

Best album of 2017.

― Jeff, Saturday, 16 December 2017 03:54 (seven years ago)

one month passes...

My list of a dozen good 'uns..

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 28 January 2018 05:34 (seven years ago)

Good #1 pick, that's an all time great song for me.

― omar little, Sunday, 28 January 2018 05:37 (seven years ago)

great strings

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 28 January 2018 05:44 (seven years ago)

Great choices. Your Arms Around Me is the only real omission. Easily my favourite Jens moment.

― kitchen person, Sunday, 28 January 2018 06:18 (seven years ago)

Great list. The only ones that I would rate higher than most of these are Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill, which nicks the Martha Reeves Heatwave progression to great effect, and the recent How Can I Tell Him, a gorgeous ballad I listed at #5 in my 2017 singles list

― hoooyaaargh it's me satan (voodoo chili), Sunday, 28 January 2018 07:11 (seven years ago)

three months pass...

Anyone been keeping up with the CORRESPONDENCE tracks he's been quietly releasing? Forever Young, Forever Beautiful is really nice.

― triggercut, Tuesday, 15 May 2018 11:29 (seven years ago)

Also, I saw him earlier in the year and he covered Do You Believe In Magic? to open his set, and it was wonderful.

― triggercut, Tuesday, 15 May 2018 11:33 (seven years ago)

I’d missed the Correspondence tracks so will go and seek them out, thanks!

― michaellambert, Tuesday, 15 May 2018 15:36 (seven years ago)

two months pass...

Really loving "Revenge of the Nerds" from CORRESPONDENCE.

― purrington, Saturday, 21 July 2018 04:45 (seven years ago)

six months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgSC6Kh0N5s

this song is so touching

― Trϵϵship, Saturday, 16 February 2019 15:29 (six years ago)

three years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxJb9qeAmL4

a new version of julie

― just sayin, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 01:39 (three years ago)

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