Pitchfork: Jens Lekman Tours, Gives Away Music

As Jens Lekman recently learned, having a day job sucks. Exhausted after a schedule of non-stop touring, the Swedish pop singer-songwriter went on hiatus, which lasted all of five minutes and involved wearing a ridiculous hat and working at a bingo hall.

Luckily, Lekman came to his senses and returned to what he does best. Batteries recharged and spirit rejuvenated, Lekman is working on new material and back on the road. He just wrapped up a UK/European tour, and will head to Australia, New Zealand, and Japan next week. His first show Down Under will take place on a boat cruise. How cute is that?

Silent no more:

03-04 - Sydney, Australia - Popfrenzy's Prom Afloat on The Lady Rose *
03-05 - Sydney, Australia - St. Jerome's Laneway Festival *&
03-07 - Brisbane, Australia - Troubadour *
03-08 - Perth, Australia - Rosemount Hotel *
03-10 - Melbourne, Australia - Central Club (Richmond) *
03-11 - Melbourne, Australia - Northcote Social Club *
03-14 - Hobart, Tasmania - TBA
03-16 - Auckland, New Zealand - TBA
03-17 - Auckland, New Zealand - Odeon Lounge
03-18 - Wellington, New Zealand - Happy
03-21 - Tokyo, Japan - Shibuya O-nest *
03-24 - Tokyo, Japan - Grapefruit Moon #

* with Guy Blackman
& with the Gossip, New Buffalo, the Hold Steady, the Avalanches, the Raveonettes, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Les Savy Fav, the Drones, Broken Social Scene, the Posies, more
$ with Mount Eerie, Nikaidoh Kazumi, Woelv
# with Lost in Found, 4 Bonjour's Parties, Andersens, Owlights

In a recent interview with our very own Ryan Schreiber, Lekman said of his forthcoming album, "In many ways, I'm actually working on pop songs, basically. I'm not sure what shape they'll be, but the thing is that I've been going in so many different directions...I just feel like I really want to concentrate on making a normal album with 10 songs."

Lekman also revealed, "Vocal arrangements are something I'm working a lot with for the new songs. If you wanted to know about the direction or the shape of the songs, I think using choirs, but more in the sense of doo-wop harmonies."

While we anxiously await his latest lovelorn ditties, Lekman has made his three out-of-print tour EPs available for free download from his website. You might be interested in one released May 29, 2004 which Lekman describes as "drunken sad teenage confessions, words of wisdom, all caught on my little dictaphone when I was 15." The other two EPs are from his May and October 2005 tours, presumably free of tortured pubescent angst.