In March this year, a funeral advertisement for Jens Lekman’s classic album “Night falls over Kortedala” appeared online. Why the pop album, which came out in 2007 and ended up number one on the Swedish album list, should be removed from the streaming services was unclear. But die-hard fans were asked to leave their condolences during a final, trembling listening party.
One and a half month after he buried his most popular record, during ceremonial forms in a field in his hometown of Gothenburg, it now reappears in a new form and with the new title “The linden trees are still in blossom”.
The reason is that he, who had previously diligently used samples in his songwriting, in some cases lacked the consent of the rights holders.
– This meant that the original records had to be removed, he explains, who is on tour with local youth orchestras in the USA.
The same goes for the disc “Oh, you’re so silent Jens” (2005) which collected some of Lekman’s early hits, such as “Black cab” and “Your arms around me”. It was removed from the web in 2011, but is now released in a new version under the name “The cherry trees are still in blossom”.
– I think of these albums as portals to the original records and to the time they were created in. They are not meant to replace the originals, hence the new titles. What has been removed or replaced may shine with its absence, says the acclaimed 41-year-old.
The discs are telling time documents from a time when you could both make and release music in a different way, says Lekman, who is to some extent critical of how the music landscape has developed since then.
Then, in the early 2000s, the internet felt more anarchist, he continues.
– I probably had a naive idea that we were on our way to something new. The big record companies were going under and I think many people had a dream of a more democratic music climate where you could create a small corner somewhere on the internet and avoid intermediaries. But instead it was the other way around, he says.
– Today, of course, anyone can release music, but to exist you have to go through the big platforms. But I do not regret that dream, I do not wish I had done things differently. In many ways, our age feels ready to actually start discussing these issues again.
Over the years, Jens Lekman has sang their often romantic, or autobiographical songs – a kind of languorous and swinging pop postcards from Gothenburg’s suburbs – around the world. That he now has to do it and at the same time fill in the gaps in his song catalog gives him the desire to look ahead.
– It feels almost symbolic that the records come out at the same time as this tour, as if I hand over the music to a new generation. I feel quite ready to move on myself, I want to release new music, but I still hope that the old can mean something, also for people who have not heard the songs before.
The albums “The linden trees are still in blossom” and “The cherry trees are still in blossom” (Secretly Canadian) are out digitally, but will be released in physical form on June 3.
Read more about music, suggested this week’s album reviews or The lack of transparency makes the Grammy Gala feel outdated