Jens Lekman has confirmed new album ‘Songs for Other People’s Weddings’, a companion piece to a book of the same name

Jens Lekman has announced his new album ‘Songs For Other People’s Weddings’, set for release on 12th September via Secretly Canadian.

The Swedish artist’s latest full-length arrives as a companion piece to a book of the same name, co-written with author David Levithan. The project draws inspiration from Lekman’s experiences as a wedding singer, a career that began when fans took his 2004 track ‘If You Ever Need a Stranger (To Sing at Your Wedding)’ literally.

The album follows a fictional narrative about J, a wedding singer who creates bespoke songs for couples while navigating his own relationship with girlfriend V. Lead single ‘Candy From A Stranger’ marks the first introduction to this story, accompanied by a video featuring footage from various weddings where Lekman has performed.

“The idea to make a narrative concept album felt forbidden. Which, for me, is usually a sign that I’m on the right path,” Lekman explains. “While investigating the genre of narrative concept albums, I realized that one of my all-time favorite albums, Frank Sinatra’s Watertown, was in fact just that– a record that told a chronological story over the length of an LP.”

“While this story is very much about a relationship and how it’s reflected through the relationships and weddings of others, most of all I think it’s a love story about music and its value in a time when it’s been devalued and turned into content by tech companies,” he adds.

His dates in full read:

NOVEMBER
8 Amsterdam Bar & Hall, Minneapolis, USA
9 Lincoln Hall, Chicago, USA
10 The Great Hall, Toronto, Canada
12 The Sinclair, Boston, USA
13 Iron Horse, Northampton, USA
14 Underground Arts, Philadelphia, USA
16 Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, USA
17 Union Stage, Washington DC, USA
19 Motorco Music Hall, Durham, USA
21 The EARL, Atlanta, USA
22 Exit/In, Nashville, USA
24 Deep Ellum, Dallas, USA
25 Mohawk, Austin, USA
28 Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix, USA
29 Lodge Room, Los Angeles, USA
30 The Independent, San Francisco, USA

DECEMBER
2 Aladdin Theater, Portland, USA
3 Neumos, Seattle, USA