Jens Lekman releasing new versions of ‘Oh You’re So Silent Jens’ & ‘Night Falls Over Kortedala​’

Jens Lekman pulled his album Night Falls Over Kortedala off streaming services last month, as he had done with early singles comp You’re So Silent Jens in 2011. Now he’s announced new, reworked versions of both albums: Oh You’re So Silent Jens is now The Cherry Trees Are Still in Blossom, and is out digitally today, while Night Falls Over Kortedala is now The Linden Trees Are Still in Blossom, out digitally on May 4. Both will get vinyl releases on June 3.

Both albums now have more songs, and some of the original tracks have been totally rerecorded while others have been left largely the same. “In many ways the remaking of these records is so much in line with what I was doing at the time,” says Lekman. “These records are a way of keeping music alive. It’s not preserving music; it’s allowing it to change. Preserved music is dead. I think that’s something that makes me sad about music these days, that it feels sometimes like it’s a big museum. Like butterflies dipped into chloroform pinned to the wall. This is music that is allowed to change. That is in the music’s nature.”

In addition to “allowing it to change,” it also allows Jens to have versions of songs like “Maple Leaves” and “Black Cab” that don’t have the many prominent and uncleared samples that were in the original recordings. You can listen to The Cherry Trees Are Still in Blossom and watch a new video for “Maple Leaves, and check out the artwork and tracklists for both albums, below. You can also listen to Jens on the new episode of Secretly Canadian’s podcast below.

Jens will be on tour starting this weekend and hits Brooklyn for two nights at Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 22 & 23. Select shows on this tour feature him backed by local youth orchestras. All dates are listed below.

The Cherry Trees Are Still in Blossom Tracklist:
1. November 27, 2002
2. At The Dept. Of Forgotten Songs
3. Maple Leaves
4. Sky Phenomenon
5. Pocketful Of Money
6. Black Cab
7. Someone To Share My Life With
8. December 19, 2002
9. Rocky Dennis’ Farewell Song To The Blind Girl
10. Rocky Dennis In Heaven
11. Jens Lekman’s Farewell Song To Rocky Dennis
12. Julie (RMX)
13. April 23, 2003
14. I Saw Her In The Anti – War Demonstration
15. A Sweet Summer’s Night On Hammer Hill
16. A Man Walks Into A Bar
17. Another Sweet Summer’s Night On Hammer Hill
18. F – Word
19. The Wrong Hands
20. Eureka
21. The Cherry Trees Are Still In Blossom
22. Black Cab (Acoustic)

The Linden Trees Are Still in Blossom Tracklist:
1. And I Remember Every Kiss
2. Sipping On The Sweet Nectar
3. The Opposite Of Hallelujah
4. A Postcard To Nina
5. Into Eternity
6. I’m Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You
7. If I Could Cry (it Would Feel Like This)
8. Your Arms Around Me
9. Shirin
10. It Was A Strange Time In My Life
11. Kanske Är Jag Kär I Dig
12. Friday Night At The Drive – In Bingo
13. Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death
14. Our Last Swim In The Ocean
15. A Little Lost
16. Radio NRJ
17. The Linden Trees Are Still In Blossom
18. When I’m Swimming

Jens Lekman – 2022 Tour Dates
4/30/22 – Los Angeles, CA – Aratani Theatre
5/2/22 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
5/5/22 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater
5/6/22 – Tacoma, WA – ALMA
5/7/22 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
5/9/22 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban
5/11/22 – Denver, CO – Bluebird
5/13/22 – Milwaukee, WI – Back Room @ Colectivo
5/14/22 – Minneapolis, MN – Cedar
5/16/22 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
5/18/22 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Warhol
5/20/22 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
5/22/22 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
5/23/22 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
5/25/22 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club