Oh You’re So Silent, Jens

Preceding his successful debut full length, When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog, Jens Lekman released into the world three little gems. Gems that didn’t reach as far as the LP…but damn, were those perfect nuggets.

In the ’50s, singles were king and bands lived and died by the single. It was a time obsessed with creating those 2 perfect songs rife with hooks. It was a golden age of unabashed pop songwriting in which art and technology finally shook hands and found their peace with each other. In the aftermath, however, the full length eventually conquered the single and albums grew too long, culminating in the advent of CDs…when bands began releasing 80 minute albums JUST BECAUSE THEY COULD!

And what does this have to do with anything?

Well, whether he knew it or not, in 2004 Jens reclaimed the medium by harkening back to that golden age of the ’50s, gradually introducing himself to the world with a new vignette every 2 months.

First came Maple Leaves (a concise pop masterpiece with such poignant hits such as “Black Cab” and “Maple Leaves”), then came the Rocky Dennis EP (a more personal and bittersweet affair in which Jens celebrates and eventually retires his erroneous alter ego, Rocky Dennis, mistakenly given to him after a Swedish DJ happened upon an early demo of this recording), and You Are the Light (the perfect harmony between the previous two eps including the wondrous title track of horns, love and misdemeanors).

And so, we offer this… ALL OF THEM ON ONE CD! We’ve filled up the space (because we could) and present to you this collection of all three out-of-print eps as well as some hard to find out-takes from the harder to find Dept. Of Forgotten Songs.