Oh You're So Silent Jens

Oh You're So Silent Jens is a compilation album by Swedish indie pop musician Jens Lekman. It was first released on Service on 8 June 2005, and later re-released on 22 November 2005 on Secretly Canadian. The album is composed of previously released tracks taken from Maple Leaves (2003), Rocky Dennis in Heaven (2004), and Julie (2004), as well as "F-Word" (2003) from a CD distributed in the fanzine En Garde and "The Wrong Hands" (2004) from the Accelerator compilation.^[1]

Oh You're So Silent Jens
Compilation album by Jens Lekman
Released	8 June 2005 (2005-06-08)
Genre	Indie pop
Length	63:22
Label	Service Secretly Canadian
Producer	Jens Lekman
Jens Lekman chronology
When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog (2004) Oh You're So Silent Jens (2005) Night Falls Over Kortedala (2007)

The album cover was designed by the Swedish musician Rasmus Hägg, one half of the duo Studio.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	79/100^[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
Entertainment Weekly	A−^[4]
Pitchfork	8.5/10^[5]
PopMatters	7/10^[6]
Stylus Magazine	A−^[7]
Uncut	^[8]
Vice	A−^[9]

Oh You're So Silent Jens received widespread acclaim from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 79, based on 13 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[2]

Amy Phillips of Pitchfork gave the album a very positive review, stating, "Oh You're So Silent Jens, his new collection of previously released singles and B-sides, is a marvel of pure songcraft. Clichés unravel, traditional structures break down and build back up again, unpretentious witticisms sparkle. And then there are the sonics of the thing: lo-fi Phil Spector room dividers of sound, unexpected samples, and Lekman's rich, cavernous monotone."^[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jens Lekman, except where noted

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Originally from	Length
1.	"At the Dept. of Forgotten Songs"		Untitled 2003 vinyl 7"	1:32
2.	"Maple Leaves" (EP version)	Lekman Dan Treacy	Maple Leaves EP	3:59
3.	"Sky Phenomenon"		Maple Leaves EP	4:34
4.	"Pocketful of Money"		Maple Leaves EP	4:20
5.	"Black Cab"		Maple Leaves EP	4:54
6.	"Someone to Share My Life With"	Treacy	Maple Leaves EP	3:32
7.	"Rocky Dennis' Farewell Song"		Rocky Dennis in Heaven EP	5:22
8.	"Rocky Dennis in Heaven"		Rocky Dennis in Heaven EP	1:02
9.	"Jens Lekman's Farewell Song to Rocky Dennis"		Rocky Dennis in Heaven EP	3:55
10.	"Julie" (Remix)		Julie EP	3:02
11.	"I Saw Her in the Anti War Demonstration"		Julie EP	3:11
12.	"A Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill"		Julie EP	3:27
13.	"A Man Walks into a Bar"		Julie EP	4:20
14.	"Another Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill"		Julie EP	3:22
15.	"F-Word"	Lekman Malcolm Middleton Aidan Moffat	2003 En Garde fanzine CD-R	4:36
16.	"The Wrong Hands"		Accelerator 2004 (Startracks)	4:21
17.	"Maple Leaves" (7" version)	Lekman Treacy	Untitled 2003 vinyl 7"	3:45
Total length:				63:22

Credited samples

• "Maple Leaves" (in both versions) incorporates a sample of "Someone to Share My Life With" by the Television Personalities.
• "Black Cab" incorporates a sample of "Mary Jo" by Belle & Sebastian.
• "Pocketful of Money" samples "Gravedigger Blues" by Beat Happening.
• "A Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill" incorporates a sample from the bootleg "Emmaboda 2003" recorded by Patrik Lindgren.
• "F-Word" incorporates a sample of "Kate Moss" by Arab Strap.

Personnel

Credits for Oh You're So Silent Jens adapted from liner notes.^[10]

• Jens Lekman – writing, performance, engineering, production, recording

Additional personnel

Linda Andersson – violin Emma Bates – backing vocals Marcus Cato – trumpet Markus Görsch – drums Rasmus Hägg – artwork and design Ellen Hjalmarsson – violin

Patrik Lindgren – engineering Ulrika Mild – backing vocals Lilian Olsson – backing vocals Mikaela Robsahm – cello Jacob Stålhammar – mastering

References

1. "Collections". JensLekman.com. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
2. "Reviews for Oh You're So Silent Jens by Jens Lekman". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
3. Sendra, Tim. "Oh You're So Silent Jens – Jens Lekman". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
4. Dombal, Ryan (9 December 2005). "Jens Lekman: Oh You're So Silent Jens". Entertainment Weekly. p. 89.
5. Phillips, Amy (27 November 2005). "Jens Lekman: Oh You're So Silent Jens". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
6. Begrand, Adrien (17 November 2005). "Jens Lekman: Oh You're So Silent Jens". PopMatters. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
7. Mathers, Ian (3 December 2005). . Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 February 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
8. "Jens Lekman: Oh You're So Silent Jens". Uncut (106): 85. March 2006.
9. Christgau, Robert (18 February 2017). "An Incorrigibly Courteous Liar's Last Act: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau". Vice. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
10. Oh You're So Silent Jens (liner notes). Lekman, Jens. Service. 2005. SERV020.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)