NOVEMBER 6 / 8:00PM
21+ / $12 Advance

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Nectar & 90.3 KEXP Present:

Jens Lekman

• Throw Me The Statue
• Viktor Sjöberg

JENS LEKMAN

Jens Martin Lekman (born February 6, 1981 in Angered, Sweden) is a Swedish indie pop musician. His music can be described as guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings; the lyrics are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. His work is often compared to that of Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields, Jonathan Richman, and Morrissey.

His self-released 7" vinyl EP Maple Leaves caused a big stir in 2003, mainly due to sound files circulating on file sharing networks. When the same EP was released on CD by the Swedish independent label Service Records in the autumn, he was already a well-known name. The songs "Maple Leaves" and "Black Cab" were heavily played on Swedish national radio. He soon signed a contract with the American label Secretly Canadian for releases outside of Sweden. Heavy touring and his debut album soon followed.

His first album When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog was released in 2004, and consisted of recordings made between 2000 and 2004 (some tracks had been previously released independently by Lekman). The album attracted attention among the alternative music press in both Europe and the US. The song "You Are The Light" was a successful radio hit, and a video received some rotation in the Nordic MTV and ZTV. In Sweden the album reached #6 in the national chart. Lekman was nominated for three Swedish Grammies, three P3 Guld and three Manifest awards, as well as dubbed album of the year by Nöjesguiden.

A concert film shot from Lekman's sold-out show with José González at Göteborg's concert hall in December 2003 was broadcast by Swedish national television two times in 2005. In June 2005, a compilation CD of Jens' first three EPs, with extra tracks, was released as Oh You're So Silent Jens. Lekman also has a cover of Scout Niblett's "Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death" on Secretly Canadian's SC100 compilation.

The new album Night Falls Over Kortedala was released in Sweden on September 5th 2007 and is due for release in the rest of the world October 9th, with the single "Friday Night at the Drive-in Bingo" preceding the album's release.

Live performances by Lekman have differed in style; at times he has performed alone with only a guitar and a CD player, sometimes doing a cappella versions of his songs, while at other times he has been accompanied by a choir and string quartet. Recently, he has toured with an all-female back-up band, dressed mostly in white, that provides basic rock instrumentation as well as horns and backing vocals.

LINKS

• Jens Lekman's Official Website
• Throw Me The Statue on Myspace

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