Name: The Cherry Trees are Still in Blossom
Brand: Jens Lekman

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

SC388LP-C1

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Colour

Pink

Colour details

Baby Pink

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Discogs ID

[r23448038]

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Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: Yes

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2022-06-03

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

PIAS

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

0656605038827

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Total Cap

1 / Extended format: Yes / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / pink

SC388CD

{"blocks": [{"data": {"text": "SC388CD"}, "type": "paragraph"}]}

Extended format: No

0656605038834

{"blocks": [{"data": {"text": "0656605038834"}, "type": "paragraph"}]}

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

SC388LP

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Black

0656605038810

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1 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

Jens Lekman

Genre GB

Indie Pop / Shoegaze

Label GB

Secretly Canadian

Jens Lekman is a Swedish musician born on February 06, 1981 in Angered, Sweden. Known for his heartfelt and introspective songwriting, Lekman has captivated audiences with his unique blend of indie pop and folk music.

Influenced by artists such as El Perro del Mar, Camera Obscura, and The Magnetic Fields, Lekman's music resonates with listeners through its relatable lyrics and catchy melodies. His songs often explore themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships.

With a discography that spans over two decades, Jens Lekman has established himself as a respected figure in the indie music scene. His albums have received critical acclaim and he continues to tour internationally, captivating audiences with his charismatic stage presence.

Secretly Canadian is a US label based in Bloomington, Indiana. It was founded in 1996 by four individuals who are passionate about music. Originally known as Secretly Canadian Records, the label has established itself as a prominent player in the industry. In 2007, Secretly Canadian collaborated with another label to form a new entity called Jagjaguwar.

The label's first address was located at 1703 N. Maple St., Bloomington, until sometime in late 2000 or 2001. They then moved to their second address at 1021 S. Walnut St., Bloomington, which served as their headquarters until around 2004. Currently, Secretly Canadian can be found at their third and current address at 1499 W. 2nd St.

With a rich history and an impressive roster of artists, Secretly Canadian continues to make waves in the music industry. Their commitment to quality and passion for supporting talented musicians sets them apart from other labels.

“All my friends were playing in these bass-guitar-drum bands,” speaks Jens Lekman, casting his mind back over twenty years to his first rudimentary experiments with sampling using his father’s old cassette recorder, and an instinct to create music that would set him far apart from his Swedish pop peers. “I’m going to sound like Scott Walker. But I’m going to do it in my bedroom.” 

Works of sweeping, maximalist, orchestral wonder sung in a sumptuous tenor, weaving lifts from obscure fleamarket vinyl records with by turns burningly romantic and mordantly funny true-life tales from the sleepy-shadowy suburbs of Gothenburg – Lekman’s early songs come from a different time, a different place. An era when the internet was young, limitless and disruptive, sample culture was turning music inside out, and anything felt possible. 

After initially finding an audience through peer-to-peer file sharing sites, Lekman signed to Secretly Canadian Records in 2003, and went on to release a slew of cherished material, including three cult limited-edition EPs – Maple Leaves, Rocky Dennis and Julie – later collected on the 2005 compilation album Oh You’re So Silent Jens. His DIY fantasias found their fullest and most celebrated form in 2007 on his second album proper, the exquisite Night Falls Over Kortedala – Lekman’s self-professed “dream record”. It went to number one in Sweden and was later hailed as one of the 200 best albums of the 2000s by Pitchfork, as well as one of the top 100 albums of the 21st century so far by The Guardian.

Now, like Oh You’re So Silent Jens, it no longer exists in its original form. Oh You’re So Silent Jens enigmatically disappeared in 2011; Night Falls Over Kortedala followed suit in early 2022. Lekman’s impulse for giving old music fresh life and context has led him to remake the records under new names, each delicately positioned in dialogue with the past – the same albums, just different. The Cherry Trees Are Still In Blossom and The Linden Trees Are Still In Blossom are a pair of lovingly and painstakingly assembled reduxes each keeping the same core tracklisting, spirit and source material as the originals, but blending brand new versions of some tracks, in part or in whole, together with many tracks left largely as they were. Both records are fleshed out with rare, previously unreleased, and even previously unfinished old songs, as well as other contemporaneous material such as cassette diaries.

On The Cherry Trees, two of Lekman’s best-loved early breakout singles are completely reimagined – ‘Maple Leaves’ as a tender ballad burnished with warm strings; tragi-comic illegal taxi ride to oblivion ‘Black Cab’ in two different versions, a handsome full band pop song and a gentle acoustic lullaby. The Linden Trees repackages all the true-life tales, magic, and mystery of Night Falls for a new age, yet in wholly familiar form, from the joyous ‘The Opposite of Hallelujah’ to hilariously uplifting missive ‘A Postcard to Nina’ and open-hearted love-song ‘Your Arms Around Me’. 

Taken together, the new albums form a sort of belated farewell to Lekman’s formative days as a bedroom Scott Walker, panning for sample gold in stacks of vintage vinyl. Albeit not a farewell to the original albums themselves, which will live on in fans’ record collections, and perhaps illicit corners of the internet. Spread to the wind. 

“I feel like these new records are like portals that can lead you to the old records if you want,” Lekman reflects. “I think that they can lead you to another time and a place, where you could work with music in a different way.” 