Blessed with a tenor as soothing as his thoughts are anxious, Lekman sets his insightful songs to the most spirited and diverse arrangements of his career.
He’s made the journey from spindly, insular indiepop to glorious, primary-coloured music, explicitly referencing 80s chart hits, soul, funk and disco.
There’s a lot in Life Will See You Now to suggest that it’s Lekman’s finest album to date. It’s certainly his most refined and emotionally rich.
Never one to get outside of himself for long, these story-songs are something new and unique from him, and the same can be said about the Magnetic Fields-esque electronic sonics. But he’s still the same old Jens, with the witty, intimate lyricism and tuneful power to prove it.
The finished product is articulate and bubbling with energy and positivity – much like Lekman himself.
After the struggle to make this album, it’s a relief to hear Lekman on such fine form.
Unexpected musical influences and unlikely juxtapositions abound – to mixed success.
On his fourth album, Jens Lekman opens up in new ways. He narrates the vulnerability of others, works with a producer, and crafts pop songs that absorb disco, calypso, and samba to soften their ache.
This fourth album by Gothenburg’s master of the indie story song song finds him reinvigorated after 2012’s heartbroken I Know What Love Isn’t, kicked up the arse by drum machines.
Life Will See You Now tackles life's most drastic ups and downs with good-natured empathy, making it both complex and comforting.
It’s an album of trying to understand why things happen, from burnt bridges to that first fight in a relationship, rather than simply realising they have happened.
Life Will See You Now won’t disappoint the devoted. Pop pleasures are myriad.
Throughout, Lekman employs synth beats, calypso rhythms and gospel singers to actualize his creative vision. The result is engaging, if not terribly lasting.
There is a wide-eyed optimism pulsing through the heart of it which, twinned with Jens’ lovelorn, quirky poetry, is a sincere, open-hearted invitation.
Snapping with flashlight disco, percussive tropicalia, palpable visuals, and devastating pomp, Jens Lekman opens the curtains to life's generous swimming pool with his signature singular musical contemplation and invites us to splash around on the ebullient Life Will See You Now.
Gentle, humorous and gorgeous, Lekman crafts yet another album of melancholic, genre traversing pop music that is uniquely his own.
Lekman’s playfully postmodern songwriting sands the edges off of topics that could otherwise be stale or rote.
Through the intricacies of Life Will See You Now, Lekman philosophizes about the profound with references to the incidental, encapsulating the transfixing nature of fleeting moments that can nevertheless come to define a life.
Although Lekman's voice sometimes sounds like Morrissey doing a Kermit the Frog impression, he revels in strong songwriting and brilliant hooks played on steel drums, funky horns and hip-hop bells.
Life comes across like the result of a songwriting exercise more than it does a true expression of emotions, like a career move instead of an honest progression and the first Jens Lekman record it's OK to skip.
Life Will See You Now doesn’t quite hit the heights of 2007-era Lekman, but in his mid-thirties, Gothenburg’s favourite son remains a vital artist.
Swedish singer-songwriter Jens Lekman goes full-on pop with his follow-up to 2012's I Know What Love Isn't.
This experimentation with styles and arrangements means that Life Will See You Now does feel a little jumbled, as though Lekman has failed to settle on a sound, but on the other hand it’s just about clear that this is sort of the point.
I hated Life Will See You Now upon my first listen. By my second listen I knew when to brace myself. By my third, I developed a sick sort of love for it. But that love is in no way admiration.
While occasionally alluring and raw, Life Will See You Now is more often than not a testament to over sharing.
Very strong lyricism and distinct stories on youth, vulnerability, and sorrow in a brimming pop-focused song writing style. I get a lot of Belle & Sebastian vibes from this man. It's chicken soup for a very modern art, contemporary soul---for the millennial soul in all of us.
He's cool, he's kind and he's my friend: Please welcome Mr. Jens Lekman, dressed in his fancier outfit and prepared to see more of you now, pretty relaxed in his brand new and handier chair.
Favorite moments: To Know Your Mission, What's That Perfume That You Wear?, How Can I Tell Him.
Always down for a record with the primary adjective "fun". Jens lyricism is so strong here, both in terms of storytelling and humour, and it lends the record the feeling of a warm hug from a really kind person.
He's cool, he's kind and he's my friend: Please welcome Mr. Jens Lekman, dressed in his fancier outfit and prepared to see more of you now, pretty relaxed in his brand new and handier chair.
1 | To Know Your Mission 4:56 | 77 |
2 | Evening Prayer 4:15 | 72 |
3 | Hotwire the Ferris Wheel 4:13 | 82 |
4 | What's That Perfume You Wear? 3:30 | 76 |
5 | Our First Fight 2:40 | 74 |
6 | Wedding in Finistère 3:24 | 85 |
7 | How We Met, the Long Version 4:16 | 75 |
8 | How Can I Tell Him 3:56 | 83 |
9 | Postcard #17 4:21 | 80 |
10 | Dandelion Seed 5:36 | 92 |
#8 | / | Spectrum Culture |
#10 | / | Entertainment Weekly |
#30 | / | The Skinny |
#37 | / | Under the Radar |
#39 | / | PopMatters |
#47 | / | musicOMH |