Jens Lekman Announces First U.S. Tour

Even the most hardened underground-music snob might be taken aback by a discography that cheerfully refers to a record of which only seven or eight copies were ever made as "sold out". But this is the world of Jens Lekman, whose American debut earlier in 2004 was preceded by three years of releases that were obscure even in his native Sweden and virtually unknown outside it.

Lekman's American listeners (and all but seven or eight of his Swedish ones) are in luck; Secretly Canadian has announced The Department Of Forgotten Songs, a free online album of rarities that will be posted in three-song chunks periodically for the next two months. The first six have already been released, and contain several appealling moments, such as "Pocketful Of Money", which uses unauthorized samples to turn Calvin Johnson into Lekman's backing vocalist.

Lekman's website says that he's almost done with his next release, the Thievery EP; if it comes out as scheduled, in January, he will have released four EPs (oh yeah, and a full-length album) in the space of a year. And you thought all Swedish people had time for was making sexually explicit documentaries that inspire mediocre albums by The Fall! That'll learn ya.

In February, Lekman will embark on his first American tour, bringing with him the Impossible Shapes, who are also from Sweden. No, damn it, they're from Indiana. We always screw that one up. Most of their dates on both coasts still need to be nailed down, but we can tell you what's up elsewhere:

02-09 Cleveland, OH - The Spot
02-16 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
02-18 Houston, TX - Mary Jane's Fat Cat
02-19 Austin, TX - Emo's
02-20 Denton, TX - Hailey's
02-22 Tucson, AZ - Plush
03-04 Bloomington, IN - 2nd Story
03-05 Chicago, IL - Schubas