Jens Martin Lekman (pronounced "Yens", born 6 February 1981 in Angered, Sweden) is a Swedish indie pop musician residing in Melbourne, Australia. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings; the lyrics are often witty, romantic, and melancholic.
His work is heavily influenced by that of Jonathan Richman and Belle & Sebastian, and he has been likened to Stephin Merritt (of The Magnetic Fields) & David Byrne.
From 2000 to 2003, Lekman recorded and released much of his material privately on CD-R. Because one of his songs during this time was entitled "Rocky Dennis' Farewell Song to the Blind Girl", Lekman was mistakenly referred to as "Rocky Dennis". Lekman says that it was a "mistake": "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". He put the confusion to rest with his Rocky Dennis in Heaven EP (2004). In 2003, Lekman self-released a 7" vinyl EP, Maple Leaves. When the same EP was released on CD by the Swedish independent label Service Records later that year, he was a well-known name. The songs "Maple Leaves" and "Black Cab" were heavily played on Swedish national radio. He soon signed a contract with the American label Secretly Canadian for releases outside of Sweden. Heavy touring and his debut album soon followed.
Albums
* When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog (Service Records, 7 April 2004; Secretly Canadian, 7 September 2004)
* Night Falls Over Kortedala (Service Records, 5 September 2007; Secretly Canadian, 9 October 2007)
Posts
0 comments