Life Will See You Now

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.

Life Will See You Now
Studio album by Jens Lekman
Released	17 February 2017
Recorded	2015–16
Genre	Indie pop
Length	41:07
Label	Secretly Canadian
Producer	Jens Lekman Ewan Pearson
Jens Lekman chronology
I Know What Love Isn't (2012) Life Will See You Now (2017)
Singles from Life Will See You Now
"What's That Perfume That You Wear?" Released: 4 January 2017 "Evening Prayer" Released: 7 February 2017

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
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.4/10[5]
Metacritic	83/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Entertainment Weekly	A[8]
The Guardian	[9]
The Irish Times	[10]
The Observer	[11]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[12]
Record Collector	[13]
Rolling Stone	[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

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
PopMatters	Top 60 Albums of 2017	39	[17]
The Skinny	Top 50 Albums of 2017	30	[18]
Spectrum Culture	Top 20 Albums of 2017	8	[19]
Under the Radar	Top 100 Albums of 2017	37	[20]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jens Lekman, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(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]

• "What's That Perfume That You Wear?" contains samples of "The Path", written by Ralph MacDonald, William Eaton, and William Salter, and performed by Ralph MacDonald.
• "How We Met, The Long Version" contains samples of "Don't Stop Dancin'", written by Alvin Stewart and performed by Jackie Stoudemire.

Personnel

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

• Jens Lekman – vocals, handclapping, piano, writing, production

Additional personnel

• Madelene Birgenius – piano
• Matt Colton – mastering
• Henri Davies – recording (assistant)
• Alex de Little – trombone
• Alice Dixon – strings
• Anna Eichholz – strings
• Linnéa Eketrä – accordion
• Josa Gerhard – strings
• Ellika Henrikson – photography
• Ellen Hjalmarsson – strings
• Emelie Jonazon – saxophone
• Paul B. Keeves – bass
• Loulou Lamotte – vocals, background vocals
• Kristin Lidell – trumpet
• Sasse Lindblad – mixing
• Malin Nordström – composition
• Jonas Odhner – engineering (horns)
• Ewan Pearson – engineering, handclapping, mixing, production, recording, programming, Solina
• Dominik Petzold – piano
• Guy Sternberg – engineering, recording
• Jackie Stoudemire – sampling
• Tracey Thorn – composition, vocals
• Nathaniel David Utesch – layout
• Klara Wiksten – artwork
• Nicolai Ziel – drums, percussion

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

References

1. Yoo, Noah (4 January 2017). "Jens Lekman Announces New Album Life Will See You Now, Shares New Song: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
2. "What's That Perfume That You Wear? by Jens Lekman". United States. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
3. "Evening Prayer by Jens Lekman & Loulou Lamotte". United States. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
4. Feeney, Nolan (5 January 2017). "Jens Lekman announces new album, shares new song". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
5. "Life Will See You Now by Jens Lekman reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
6. "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.
10. Murphy, Lauren (16 February 2017). "Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now – happy-sad Swede goes 1980s". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
11. Mackay, Emily (19 February 2017). "Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now review – fresh lyrical vim". The Observer. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
12. Ruiz, Matthew Ismael (22 February 2017). "Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now". Pitchfork. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
13. Atkins, Jamie (February 2017). "Jens Lekman – Life Will See You Now". Record Collector (463). Retrieved 19 April 2017.
14. Grow, Kory (16 February 2017). "Review: Indie Singer Jens Lekman Spins Tales on 'Life Will See You Now'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
15. Anderson, Jason (March 2017). "Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now". Uncut (238): 32.
16. Christgau, Robert (18 February 2017). "An Incorrigibly Courteous Liar's Last Act: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
17. "The 60 Best Albums of 2017". PopMatters. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
18. "The Skinny's Top 50 Albums of 2017". Theskinny.co.uk. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
19. "Top 20 Albums of 2017". Spectrumculture.com. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
20. "Under the Radar's Top 10 Albums of 2017". Undertheradarmag.com. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
21. Life Will See You Now (liner notes). Lekman, Jens. Secretly Canadian. 2017. SC339.CS1 maint: others (link)
22. "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
23. "Swedishcharts.com – Jens Lekman – Life Will See You Now". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
24. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
25. "Jens Lekman Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
26. "Jens Lekman Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 November 2017.