Jens Lekman has announced his first solo album in eight years. Songs for Other People’s Weddings, a companion record to a book of the same name by Lekman and bestselling author David Levithan, is out September 12 via Secretly Canadian; the novel will be published August 5 via Abrams Books. The delightful lead single ‘Candy From a Stranger’ arrives today alongside a Rena Johnson-directed video. Check it out below and scroll down for the album cover, tracklist, and Lekman’s upcoming tour dates.
Songs for Other People’s Weddings draws inspiration from Lekman’s own experience as a wedding singer, following the release of ‘If You Ever Need A Stranger (To Sing at Your Wedding)’ in 2004. “It was meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, but people took it very seriously and started asking me to actually play at their weddings,” Lekman explained. “Which I did happily; it was an honor. In the 2010s, when streaming made it harder to make a living from music, the wedding gigs became a way to get by financially, and also gave new meaning to music itself.”
The Swedish singer-songwriter approached Levithan (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist) about working on a project together before the pandemic. “I’m a novelist with an interest in love songs, and Jens and I have corresponded ever since I got in touch with him in 2005, after listening to his album on repeat while writing a book,” Levithan recalled. “I wanted to thank him for the soundtrack. We kept in touch over the years, and shortly before the pandemic, he approached me with the idea for a novel about an indie musician who plays weddings. I was intrigued. To make it a true collaboration, I suggested we add a twist: that the wedding singer writes an original song for each couple, based on a conversation with them about their love (which Jens had done before, but not for every wedding.) Half the chapters of the book would be written with me telling the story of the wedding first and Jens having to supply the couple’s song after. The other half would start with Jens giving me a song, and then me having to come up with the story that led to the song.”
The new song, according to Lekman, “is the point in the story where the lovers meet for the first time, or do they?” He went on:
The idea to make a narrative concept album (a rock opera?) felt forbidden. Which, for me, is usually a sign that I’m on the right path. 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. Having never been a fan of musicals or rock operas, this album served as inspiration.
I wrote the album while the book was still being written and, at some points, I started imagining what happened between the book’s chapters. The book and the album eventually became intertwined but also found their own paths. The book provided the structure of the story, but the album sometimes snuck behind the scenes. Stories from the songs made their way into the book and vice versa.
Lekman concluded: “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. Its ability to soothe and connect and its role in the transitional moments of our lives such as weddings. It’s a love song to love songs.”
Songs for Other People’s Weddings Cover Artwork:
Songs for Other People’s Weddings Tracklist:
1. The First Lovesong
2. A Tuxedo Sewn for Two
3. Candy from a Stranger
4. Two Little Pigs
5. Speak to Me in Music
6. With You I Can Hear My Own Voice
7. I Want to Want You Again
8. GOT-JFK
9. Wedding in Brooklyn
10. For Skye
11. Increasingly Obsolete
12. On a Pier, On the Hudson
13. Wedding in Leipzig
14. LEJ-GOT
15. You Have One New Message
16. Just for One Moment
17. The Last Lovesong
Jens Lekman 2025 Tour Dates:
Nov 8 – Minneapolis, MN – Amsterdam Bar & Hall
9 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
Nov 10 – Toronto, ON – The Great Hall
Nov 12 – Boston, MA – The Sinclair
Nov 13 – Northampton, MA – Iron Horse
Nov 14 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
Nov 16 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Nov 17 – Washington, D.C. – Union Stage
Nov 19 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
Nov 21 – Atlanta, GA – The EARL
Nov 22 – Nashville, TN – Exit/In
Nov 24 – Dallas, TX – Deep Ellum
Nov 25 – Austin, TX – Mohawk
Nov 28 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
Nov 29 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
Nov 30 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
Dec 2 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater
Dec 3 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
