Jens Lekman

Jens Martin Lekman is a Swedish singer-songwriter from Angered, Sweden, born in 1981. His music sits in indie pop and lo-fi, and it is built around guitar-based pop, with heavy use of samples and strings. His lyrics are often described as witty, romantic and melancholy.

Recording career

Lekman records and releases much of his early material privately between 2000 and 2003 on CD-R. During this period, one of his songs, Rocky Dennis' Farewell Song to the Blind Girl, leads some people to refer to him as Rocky Dennis, a misunderstanding he later addresses with the Rocky Dennis in Heaven EP in 2004.

His self-released 7-inch EP Maple Leaves draws wider attention in 2003 after sound files circulate on file-sharing networks. When the EP appears on CD through the Swedish independent label Service Records later that year, he is already a known name. The songs Maple Leaves and Black Cab receive heavy play on Swedish national radio.

He signs to the American label Secretly Canadian for releases outside Sweden. His debut album, When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog, is released in 2004 and is made up of recordings from 2000 to 2004, including some songs previously issued independently. The album gains attention in the alternative press in Europe and the United States. You Are The Light becomes a radio hit, and its video receives rotation on Nordic MTV and ZTV. In Sweden, the album reaches number 6 on the national chart.

EPs, compilation releases and later album

In June 2005, a compilation CD collecting his first three EPs, with extra tracks, appears as Oh You’re So Silent Jens. He also contributes a track to Secretly Canadian’s SC100 compilation in April 2007. His album Night Falls Over Kortedala appears in 2007 and is included on many year-end best-album lists.

Recognition and live performances

Lekman is nominated for three Swedish Grammies, three P3 Guld awards and three Manifest awards, and When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog is named album of the year by Nöjesguiden. A concert film of his sold-out show with José González at Göteborg’s concert hall in December 2003 is broadcast twice by Swedish national television in 2005.

His live performances vary in format: he sometimes appears alone with only a guitar and CD player, sometimes performs a cappella, and at other times is joined by a choir and string quartet or by a full band including horns. One touring version features all-women musicians dressed in white 1960s-style dresses.

Comparisons and references

His work is often compared with Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, Jonathan Richman and Morrissey.