Preview Jens Lekman’s first new album in five years, see him at Union Transfer in March

Jens Lekman | photo by John Vettese for WXPN

Swedish songwriting mastermind Jens Lekman had an incredible run in the aughties, and between “Maple Leaves,” “Black Cab,” “You Are The Light (By Which I Travel Into This And That” and “A Postcard to Nina” (just to name a few amazing songs), dude doesn’t need to write anything else to assure his place in the annals of pop music. And he’s sort of been taking his work in stride since 2012’s I Know What Love Isn’t. Thankfully, that period of hermitage and hibernation is coming to a  close with Life Will See You Now.

His fourth studio LP (fifth if you consider the odds-and-ends collection Oh You’re So Silent Jens an album, as some do) is out February 17 on Secretly Canadian, and the first taste of it is the vibrant disco-via-Soweto jammer “What’s That Perfume That You Wear,” which you can hear below.

I caught Lekman performing mostly solo at Music Hall of Williamsburg in early November (the photo you see above), and he previewed a half dozen songs from the new record, and though they vary in tempo from dancefloor fillers like “Perfume” to more contemplative numbers like “Hotwire The Ferris Wheel,” they’re all super top-form cuts from him — a good mix of highly-literate description, unexpected turns of phrase, humor, self depreciation and heart-wrenching candor. Lekman may have taken his time on this record, as with just about every record he releases, and the results are stellar and worth the wait.

Plus, it’s a chance to see him live, and he’s got an unparalleled ability to work magic on just about any room he steps into, whether solo or with a band. He’ll be in Philadelphia on Friday, March 17th at Union Transfer; tickets and more information on the show can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar.

Below, check out the full run of tour dates, album art and track listing for Life Will See You Now.

Tour Dates
02-23 Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall (downstairs)
02-24 Austin, TX – The Mohawk
02-25 Dallas, TX – Club Dada
02-27 Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom
02-28 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
03-03 Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
03-05 Seattle, WA – Neumos
03-08 Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line Music Cafe
03-09 Chicago, IL – Metro
03-10 Columbus, OH – Wexner Center for the Arts
03-11 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
03-13 Toronto, Ontario – The Great Hall
03-15 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
03-16 Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall
03-17 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
03-18 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
03-19 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
03-28 Dublin, Ireland – Whelans
03-29 London, England – Oval Space
03-30 Leeds, England – The Brudenell Social Club
03-31 Manchester, England – Band on the Wall
04-01 Glasgow, Scotland – St. Luke’s Church
04-03 Stockholm, Sweden – Vasateatern
04-04 Uppsala, Sweden – Uppsala Konsert & Kongress
04-05 Malmö, Sweden – KB
04-06 Copenhagen, Denmark – Studie 2
04-07 Örebro, Sweden – Orebro Concert Hall
04-08 Gothenburg, Sweden – Pustervik
04-09 Oslo, Norway – John Dee

Life Will See You Now track list

01 To Know Your Mission
02 Evening Prayer
03 Hotwire the Ferris Wheel
04 What’s That Perfume You Wear?
05 Our First Fight
06 Wedding in Finistère
07 How We Met, The Long Version
08 How Can I Tell Him
09 Postcard #17
10 Dandelion Seed

(h/t Pitchfork)