Jens Lekman Announces New Album, Life Will See You Now

Jens Lekman has announced the upcoming release of his first new album in five years, Life Will See You Now, set to drop Feb. 14. Lekman is one of those rare artists who can make a sad story sound happy and a happy story sound sad. He shares his personal experiences in the world through a mix of self-deprecating humor, melancholy reflections and indie pop.

This will be the fourth album of the Swedish musician’s career, and it promises to be a combination of the familiar style of his past albums, as well as a step forward in a new direction. His first three albums showcased his talents as a singer/songwriter and his abilities as a deeply personal storyteller. In Life Will See You Now, we will see much of the same storytelling style, but with some new sounds. Lekman explores a variety of new rhythms including disco, samba and bossa nova, along with producer Ewan Pearson.

Lekman and a full band will embark on a North American tour in February and March, including shows at Bowery Ballroom in New York City and the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles. Later in the spring, Lekman will tour the U.K. and Scandinavia. A full list of tour dates, along will the album tracklist, can be found below.

Life Will See You Now is now available for preorder on Secretly Canadian, and will include a limited-edition postcard flexi of “What’s That Perfume You Wear? (acapella version)” and a limited one-sided flexi of bonus track “Two Young Lovers.”

Also, check out the newly released video below of the single “What’s That Perfume You Wear?” directed by Christopher Good. Featuring steel pan samples from Ralph MacDonald’s “The Path” of 1978, the video personifies a relationship as a shattered vase—all very upbeat, of course.

Life Will See You Now Tracklist:
01. To Know Your Mission
02. Evening Prayer
03. Hotwire The Ferris Wheel
04. What’s That Perfume That You Wear?
05. Our First Fight
06. Wedding in Finistère
07. How We Met, The Long Version
08. How Can I Tell Him
09. Postcard #17
10. Dandelion Seed

Jens Lekman Tour Dates:

February
23 – Houston, Texas @ White Oak Music Hall (Downstairs)
24 – Austin, Texas @ The Mohawk
25 – Dallas, Texas @ Club Dada
27 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Teragram Ballroom
28 – San Francisco, Calif. @ The Independent

March
03 – Portland, Ore. @ Revolution Hall
05 – Seattle, Wash. @ Neumos
08 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ Fine Line Music Cafe
09 – Chicago, Ill. @ Metro
10 – Columbus, Ohio @ Wexner Center for the Arts
11 – Detroit, Mich. @ Magic Stick
13 – Toronto, Ontario @ The Great Hall
15 – Boston, Mass. @ Brighton Music Hall
16 – Washington, D.C. @ U Street Music Hall
17 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Union Transfer
18 – New York, N.Y. @ Bowery Ballroom
19 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
28 – Dublin, Ireland @ Whelans
29 – London, U.K. @ Oval Space
30 – Leeds, U.K. @ The Brudenell Social Club
31 – Manchester, U.K. @ Band on the Wall

April
01 – Glasgow, U.K. @ St. Luke’s Church
03 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Vasateatern
04 – Uppsala, Sweden @ Uppsala Konsert & Kongress
05 – Malmo, Sweden @ KB
06 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Studie 2
07 – Orebro, Sweden @ Orebro Concert Hall
08 – Gothenburg, Sweden @ Pustervik
09 – Oslo, Norway @ John Dee