Since his 2012 release of I Know What Love Isn’t, Jens Lekman has remained relatively quiet. Today, there’s news that he’s shared WWJD, a 33-minute mixtape containing snippets of songs and samples from other artists, as well as three complete tracks, “WWJD”, “I Remember”, and “What’s That Perfume That You Wear?”. To complement the release, he offers the following statement:
While travelling through midwest America some time ago I stopped at a gas station and bought a WWJD bracelet for $1.99 and insisted that it stood for ‘What Would Jens Do?’. I would look at it when I felt indecisive, think about what Jens really would do and then do the opposite of that. I thought that would be a good way to find some new paths in life, and to get away from the paths I kept taking that didn’t lead me anywhere good.
“WWJD” is a song about regrets, learning from your mistakes, and bettering yourself. I wrote it last year, recorded it quickly and felt it didn’t fit in with most of the other songs I was writing. Together with “What’s That Perfume That You Wear?’”and “I Remember” they weren’t adhering to the rules I had set up for my next album but they were also too good to forget. So I weaved them in exclusively on this mixtape where they are stations on a longer journey, where loops and smaller fragments, ideas for songs and favourite songs by others swoosh by outside the window. Feel free to open that window and feel the breeze in your hair.
Yours truly
Jens Lekman
The mixtape is streaming on his Soundcloud and below.
