Jesper Lindell made a pilgrimage, and ‘3614 Jackson Highway’ is what came back with him. The Swedish singer-songwriter releases his cover of Dan Penn’s “If Love Was Money,” the latest preview of his forthcoming album recorded at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama, out now via Yep Roc Records. The album arrives as a tasteful, deeply felt collection of songs originally recorded at Muscle Shoals, capturing the creative rush of a band finally inside the room where the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, and so many others made history.
The journey to get there was anything but smooth. Flight delays cut the band’s two full days in the studio down to a day and a half, but the pent-up energy, joy of playing, jet lag, and sheer wonder of being inside Muscle Shoals Sound Studio produced something that exceeded expectations entirely. Penn’s “If Love Was Money,” the closing track from his 1972 solo album, was a discovery Lindell made on the three-day drive down from Boston. “I could have recorded almost every song on that record,” he says, “but the last track felt 100% like something me and my band could really sink into.”
Lindell grew up in Ludvika, Sweden, developing a reverence for classic American songwriting and the warm analog textures of the sixties and seventies. His breakout EP, recorded with members of First Aid Kit, revealed a strikingly emotive voice with a natural instinct for blending retro soul with contemporary Americana. Albums including ‘Twilights’ and ‘Before the Sun’ cemented his reputation as a craftsman capable of turning personal stories into widescreen, roots-steeped soundscapes echoing Van Morrison and The Band while remaining entirely his own.