Life Will See You Now

Last updated

Life Will See You Now
Jens Lekman Life Will See You Now.jpg
Studio album by
Released17 February 2017 (2017-02-17)
Recorded2015–16
Genre Indie pop
Length41:07
Label Secretly Canadian
Producer
Jens Lekman chronology
I Know What Love Isn't
(2012)
Life Will See You Now
(2017)
Singles from Life Will See You Now
  1. "What's That Perfume That You Wear?"
    Released: 4 January 2017 (2017-01-04)
  2. "Evening Prayer"
    Released: 7 February 2017 (2017-02-07)

Life Will See You Now is the fourth studio album by Swedish indie pop musician Jens Lekman. The album was released on 17 February 2017 through Secretly Canadian.

Contents

The album's title and release date were first announced on 4 January 2017, accompanied by the release of its lead single, "What's That Perfume That You Wear?" [1] [2] A second song, "Evening Prayer", was released on 7 February. [3]

Background

Lekman had finished a follow-up record to his third studio album I Know What Love Isn't in 2014, but scrapped it after he felt that the finished product "sounded like [he] had given up". [4] The following year, he launched a project he entitled Postcards, which saw him writing and releasing a new song each week of the year, and his more freeform approach to songwriting on Postcards carried over to the making of Life Will See You Now . [4] In an interview about the making of the album, Lekman said: "I wanted it to be a pop record... I Know What Love Isn't was almost an extreme narrowing of the palette I was using, but for this one I wanted it to be more colorful. I wanted there to be more instruments. I was learning about drum machines and electronic instruments when I was making this." [4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.4/10 [5]
Metacritic 83/100 [6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Entertainment Weekly A [8]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [9]
The Irish Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
The Observer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Pitchfork 8.0/10 [12]
Record Collector Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [14]
Uncut 8/10 [15]
Vice A [16]

Life Will See You Now received highly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 83, based on 23 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". [6]

Accolades

PublicationAccoladeRankRef.
PopMatters Top 60 Albums of 2017
39
The Skinny Top 50 Albums of 2017
30
Spectrum CultureTop 20 Albums of 2017
8
Under the Radar Top 100 Albums of 2017
37

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jens Lekman, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."To Know Your Mission" (featuring Loulou Lamotte) 4:56
2."Evening Prayer" (featuring Loulou Lamotte) 4:15
3."Hotwire the Ferris Wheel" (featuring Tracey Thorn)
  • Lekman
  • Tracey Thorn
4:13
4."What's That Perfume That You Wear?" 3:30
5."Our First Fight" 2:40
6."Wedding in Finistère"
  • Lekman
  • Malin Nordström
3:24
7."How We Met, The Long Version" 4:16
8."How Can I Tell Him" 3:56
9."Postcard No. 17" 4:21
10."Dandelion Seed" 5:36
Total length:41:07

Sample credits [21]

Personnel

Credits for Life Will See You Now adapted from liner notes. [21]

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (2017)Peak
position
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ) [22] 8
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [23] 14
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [24] 23
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [25] 9
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [26] 24

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References

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  2. "What's That Perfume That You Wear? by Jens Lekman". Amazon. United States. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  3. "Evening Prayer by Jens Lekman & Loulou Lamotte". Amazon. United States. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
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  6. 1 2 "Reviews for Life Will See You Now by Jens Lekman". Metacritic . Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  7. Sendra, Tim. "Life Will See You Now – Jens Lekman". AllMusic . Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  8. Walters, Barry (10 February 2017). "Jens Lekman's Life Will See You Now: EW Review". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  9. Hann, Michael (9 February 2017). "Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now review – mordant but joyous indiepop". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 February 2017.
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  11. Mackay, Emily (19 February 2017). "Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now review – fresh lyrical vim". The Observer . Retrieved 19 February 2017.
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