Postcards from Jens
My last blog was really good at documenting my deep love of Jens Lekman, the very special Swedish musician whom you might remember from his days of traveling into this and that. Was that his only American “hit?” It’s certainly the first song of his that I remember stumbling upon, until I became that person who hunts down every Jens Lekman song ever made.
I have to give all credit to Andrea, who put “A Sweet Summer’s Night on Hammer Hill” on a mixtape (yes, a real, genuine, cassette tape) for me back in 2007. It was an excellent tape all around, but I immediately seized on that song as my new favorite sound. I had to have more.
I started going to his shows whenever he was in New York and since I never found anyone who could/wanted to go with me, I learned how to go to shows alone. A Jens Lekman show is perfect to attend on your lonesome though, since so many of his songs are about being lonesome. In fact, while seeing him live is a great time, it’s almost just as good for your soul to listen to a full album by yourself on quality headphones. Might I suggest starting with Night Falls Over Kortedala?
He hasn’t put out a full album since 2012, which made me really antsy for more until Andrea saved me again. About a year ago, she sent me a text saying “Did you know that Jens Lekman is posting a new song every week for all of 2015?” NO I DID NOT, BEST FRIEND EVER.
And so began my weekly check-in on Postcards. I feel a little bad sharing this information now that it’s already 2016 and you don’t have the excitement of checking Soundcloud every week, greedily awaiting your latest song fix. But in other ways, maybe it’s good that they’re already all published so you can binge-listen in the same way that we all binge-watch full seasons of TV now. Binge-listening is the new binge-watching!
There are 52 so they’re not all perfect. Yes, even though it’s Jens, there are a couple that I skip past whenever I listen, but for the most part they're all great. These are a few of my faves:
The last one he posted on New Year’s Eve, #52, is also great, and finishes the project beautifully:
With all these new songs (plus Ghostwriting, his project of interviews that he turned into songs), surely we can hope for an international tour this year? Please Jens? I promise I’ll stop writing you drunk emails.