Jens Lekman has shared his new single ‘Wedding in Leipzig,’ the latest preview of his anticipated new album Songs For Other People’s Weddings, due out September 12th via Secretly Canadian. His first LP in eight years is a companion to a book of the same name by Lekman & award-winning, bestselling author David Levithan, out today via ABRAMS (available to purchase HERE). ‘Wedding in Leipzig’ arrives with an animated lyric video; the 10-minute track fittingly plays out like a melodic chapter in a novel, with Lekman’s narrative lyricism floating atop rich, sparkling instrumentation. “‘Wedding in Leipzig’ is a song that never wanted to end, it just kept writing itself. I think it was 20 minutes long at one point before I started cutting it down. I think I was subconsciously inspired by Lou Reed’s ‘Street Hassle’ when I was writing it,” Lekman explains. “In the song we find J, the wedding singer in our story, in a rather desperate and vulnerable state as he makes his way to a wedding gig in Leipzig. There he’s placed at the dreaded singles table, consisting of a bunch of loners and weirdos. And through stories told at the table, he begins to ponder what it means to be alone.”
Jens Lekman – Wedding in Leipzig (Official Lyric Video)
Songs For Other People’s Weddings was inspired by the beloved Swedish artist’s own surprising side career as a wedding singer, which came about by chance after fans took his 2004 song ‘If You Ever Need a Stranger (To Sing at Your Wedding)’ literally and invited him to perform at their nuptials. The video for lead single ‘Candy From A Stranger’ (which earned praise and support from Pitchfork, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, The Needle Drop, Exclaim!, Under the Radar and more) offers a charming window into this part of Lekman’s life, collaging together clips from various weddings he has performed at. The album is available to pre-order here.
Songs For Other People’s Weddings is a work of fiction about J, an unlucky-in-love musician who moonlights as a wedding singer. J gathers with couples before their big day to learn more about the intimate, strange things that brought them together, in order to write an original song to perform for them at their wedding. But despite J’s penchant for finding the perfect words for others, he can’t seem to do the same for his own love with his girlfriend, V. Narratively, Songs For Other People’s Weddings follows J and V’s relationship, changing musically as the couple navigates the ups and downs of love–with each new wedding providing its own sonic background. An orchestral, romantic collection, the album traverses through pastoral strings, dreamy pop, soft jazzy saxophone, and sad house beats. “If Jens and I have done our jobs, the novel and the album tell both sides of J and V’s story – and the tension comes from how these sides fit together,” says Levithan.
Read the full album bio, written by David Levithan, HERE.
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