Life Will See You Now | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 17 February 2017 | |||
Recorded | 2015–16 | |||
Genre | Indie pop | |||
Length | 41:07 | |||
Label | Secretly Canadian | |||
Producer |
| |||
Jens Lekman chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from 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.
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]
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]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.4/10 [5] |
Metacritic | 83/100 [6] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | A [8] |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Irish Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Observer | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 8.0/10 [12] |
Record Collector | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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]
Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
PopMatters | Top 60 Albums of 2017 | 39
|
|
The Skinny | Top 50 Albums of 2017 | 30
|
|
Spectrum Culture | Top 20 Albums of 2017 | 8
|
|
Under the Radar | Top 100 Albums of 2017 | 37
|
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) |
| 4:13 |
4. | "What's That Perfume That You Wear?" | 3:30 | |
5. | "Our First Fight" | 2:40 | |
6. | "Wedding in Finistère" |
| 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]
Credits for Life Will See You Now adapted from liner notes. [21]
Additional personnel
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 |
{{
cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link)
Life Will See You Now | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 17 February 2017 | |||
Recorded | 2015–16 | |||
Genre | Indie pop | |||
Length | 41:07 | |||
Label | Secretly Canadian | |||
Producer |
| |||
Jens Lekman chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from 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.
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]
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]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.4/10 [5] |
Metacritic | 83/100 [6] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | A [8] |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Irish Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Observer | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 8.0/10 [12] |
Record Collector | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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]
Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
PopMatters | Top 60 Albums of 2017 | 39
|
|
The Skinny | Top 50 Albums of 2017 | 30
|
|
Spectrum Culture | Top 20 Albums of 2017 | 8
|
|
Under the Radar | Top 100 Albums of 2017 | 37
|
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) |
| 4:13 |
4. | "What's That Perfume That You Wear?" | 3:30 | |
5. | "Our First Fight" | 2:40 | |
6. | "Wedding in Finistère" |
| 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]
Credits for Life Will See You Now adapted from liner notes. [21]
Additional personnel
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 |
{{
cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link)