Pitchfork

Less than a year ago, Jens Lekman was talking about taking up a day job and ditching the whole music thing for good. Now he's back to being Captain Prolific. As the charming Jens revealed in a recent e-mail to Pitchfork, he has already recorded a heap of new songs for his next record, technically the follow-up to his Secretly Canadian-stamped U.S. debut, When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog. And speaking of dogs, he's also begun working with another Swedish Pitchfork favorite: El Perro Del Mar. In the man's own words:

"I have recorded about 30-40 new songs here in Kortedala [an area in Gothenburg], where all my previous songs were recorded. But I feel that I can't work here anymore. It has turned into such a depressive and violent place. People go to bed at nine and after that everything is dark and silent. I used to like that cause it meant I could go for endless walks without meeting a single person, but after having been mugged and beaten several times I'm too scared to go out.

"So to get away from that and to finish the record I've headed over to my friend Sarah Assbring / El Perro Del Mar. She's helping me with details such as vocal arrangments and sorting out the rotten apples. Her studio is right by the ocean.

"I can't say much more than that, I hate reading about artists in the studio and I don't wanna be one of them myself. I like to pretend that my songs record themselves during the night and when I wake up I will find it sitting on my bed with a cup of tea saying: 'Good morning, I am your new song.'"

El Perro Del Mar previously released a limited edition split single with Lekman. And while Jens might not be waking up next to any tea-bearing, readymade new tunes, you might just be lucky enough to wake up next to the man's own ukulele in the near future.

"For me, my Ukulele is somehow standing in my way," wrote Lekman on his website late last month. "Because it never was a part of my music as I imagined it. It doesn't lead me anywhere anymore. So if you want it (it's free), here's what you have to do: Go on a vacation, somewhere you've never been before (doesn't have to be far away), and send me a postcard with your adress [sic]."

Read Lekman's entire humorous eulogy to his uke-- and scope his address-- here. And best get vacationing soon, people, as based on the date of Jens' post, you only have through this weekend to make a stake at a special new musical bedfellow.

And while you're getting your travel on, Lekman will be preparing for a holiday in Brazil next month, where he'll play three shows. As previously reported, El Perro Del Mar's Assbring, meanwhile, brings her ass (terrible!) to New York for the very first time, playing her inaugural U.S. gigs this weekend.

Jens Lekman:

12-11 Curitiba, Brazil - Era So o Que Faltava
12-13 São Paulo, Brazil - Studio SP
12-14 Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Teatro Odisseia (Algumas Pessoas Festival)

El Perro Del Mar:

11-12 Brooklyn, NY - Zebulon Café
11-13 New York, NY - Joe's Pub
11-14 Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
11-16 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge