Swedish crooner Jens Lekman has done it again.
Jens Lekman has dropped his delightful as all hell new album Songs For Other People’s Weddings via Secretly Canadian, a dreamy companion to a book of the same name co-written with award-winning author David Levithan.
The pair have already caught the attention of The New York Times and NPR’s All Things Considered, and it’s not hard to see why.
The LP– featuring singles like Candy From a Stranger and Wedding in Leipzig – follows the misadventures of J, a hapless musician-turned-wedding singer, and his love interest V.
The album glides through lush strings, jazzy saxophones, melancholic house beats, and glittering pop, each track feeling like a little cinematic detour through love’s highs and lows.
To celebrate the release, Lekman shared a new video for On a Pier, On the Hudson, directed by Rena Johnson and featuring the angelic vocals of Matilda Sargren. “This is the first time we hear V’s perspective,” Lekman says, nodding to the album’s narrative depth. Inspired by Chicago house, The Avalanches, and Pet Shop Boys, the track is both heartbreaking and danceable – music that aches while it moves.
The album’s concept was inspired by Lekman’s accidental wedding-singer career, which started after fans took his 2004 song If You Ever Need a Stranger (To Sing at Your Wedding) literally. “I realised one of my favourite albums, Sinatra’s Watertown, was a narrative concept album. That inspired me to explore the forbidden genre of storytelling through music,” he explains. The book and album intertwine, each enriching the other with behind-the-scenes glimpses into the story’s chapters.
Lekman will soon take the album on the road, hitting North America this November, including Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg and LA’s Lodge Room, before heading to Europe and the UK in March 2026. More Scandinavia shows are on the way.
Songs For Other People’s Weddings is a record to get lost in– romantic, wistful, and as unpredictable as falling in love itself.
