Jens Lekman
Jens Martin Lekman (born February 6 1981 in Angered, Sweden) is a Swedish pop musician. He has released one album and several EPs since 2003. His music can be described as guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings; the lyrics are often witty, romantic, and sad. His work is often compared to that of Stephin Merritt, Jonathan Richman, Morrissey and The Magnetic Fields.
Lekman recorded and released a lot of material privately from 2000 to 2003 on CD-R under the accidental name Rocky Dennis (taken from the movie Mask). He never meant to go by this name, and says that it was a "mistake" and that "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"[1]. His self-released 7" vinyl EP Maple Leaves caused a big stir in 2003, mainly due to sound files circulating on file sharing networks, even though it was limited to only 250 copies. When the same EP was released on CD by the Swedish independent label Service Records in the autumn, he was already a known name and the songs "Maple Leaves" and "Black Cab" were heavily played on Swedish national radio.
In early 2004, he got rid of his old alias with the Rocky Dennis in Heaven EP. He also got a contract with American label Secretly Canadian, for releases outside of Sweden. Heavy touring and the debut album followed. Live performances have differed in style; at times he has performed alone with only a guitar and a CD player, sometimes doing a capella versions of his songs, while at other times he has been accompanied by a choir and string quartet.
His first album When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog was released in 2004, and attracted attention among the alternative music press in both Europe and the US. It contained both original songs and reworked older material. The song "You Are The Light" was a big 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' three first EPs, with extra tracks, was released as Oh You're So Silent Jens.
According to Jens Lekman's myspace (which he runs himself), a new album is tentatively scheduled as "upcoming (hopefully this year)", alongside a menagerie of other forthcoming releases.
Discography
- Maple Leaves EP (2003)
- Rocky Dennis in Heaven EP (2004)
- When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog album (2004)
- Julie EP (2004)
- The Opposite of Hallelujah EP (2005)
- Oh You're So Silent Jens (2005) – a compilation of songs previous released on EP's and singles.
"Presents" EPs
These EPs were released online by Jens in the MP3 format.
- I Killed A Party Again (May 2004)
- You Deserve Someone Better than a Bum Like Me (May 2005) – an Australian tour EP
- Tour EP (October 2005)
References
- Jens Lekman Interview by Salvatore Alessandro, Indiepop.it
- "Jens Lekman Scraps Second Album, Goes on Hiatus" by Ryan Schreiber, Pitchforkmedia.com, 16 December 2005.