Jens Lekman's 2015 New Year's resolution was to write and release one song a week, so that we might all remember, "Where we were and when we were there, who we kissed and who we missed" last year. Statistically, most New Year's resolutions are broken by January 17, but Jens kept his word: Postcard #52 was released on December 31, wrapping up a year of songs that documented new love, ageing, friends' broken hearts, national tragedies, the refugee crisis, and realizing long-held dreams. On 2012's I Know What Love Isn't, Lekman pared back his trademark use of samples, but many of the songs here rely on a huge range of pre-existing songs, spanning classical, soul, and more, harking back to 2007's joyous Night Falls Over Kortedala.

Below you can find a guide to help you parse all 52 new songs, along with an email interview with Lekman about his Postcards series and its effect on his fourth studio album, which is due later this year.

Pitchfork: How does giving away 52 songs help the process of writing a new album?

Jens Lekman: I don't think that was the goal in the beginning. But I felt very stuck with the album last fall and needed to shake things up, do something different. I wanted to create a more spontaneous outlet for my songwriting to have alongside the more long-winded process of making an album. I wanted to have some fun. But now, when I'm at the end of it, I'm realizing that both Postcards and my other project, Ghostwriting [an installation-type project where he writes songs based on stories fans tell him], have started to influence the album in different ways.

Pitchfork: What was proving difficult about the album? Will it be out this year?

JL: I just got stuck and I think the problem was that I was working on it all alone, day in and day out. I've always done it like that but this time I needed to let in some fresh air, and both Postcards and Ghostwriting helped with that. And I realized I needed to work with other people instead of doing everything myself. Yes, I'm really hoping to have it out [this] year but it's not finished yet so we'll see.

Pitchfork: What did you take away from Ghostwriting? You've written quite a lot about your own friends, but what was it like translating strangers' experiences into songs?

JL: It was nerve wracking, I was terrified I wouldn't be doing these stories justice. It just felt so intimate and full of responsibility. And especially when I performed the songs in front of an audience at the end of each project and I knew the storytellers were in the crowd listening, that was hard. But I think it worked out really well and it was so nice to talk to them afterwards. Several people from the crowd came up and said "I really liked that one story," and then the author of that story jumped up and said, "That was me! that was my story!" That was very moving. All in all it was a project that I felt made me more humble, both as a person and as a songwriter. And the thought struck me afterwards that I would love to see other artists from completely different genres do it—like, what are the stories of Slayer's fans?

Pitchfork: With Postcards, beyond documenting your year, was there another end goal?

JL: Well, yes, to force myself to find magic when sometimes there seemed to be none at all. To be able to write about things that wouldn't make sense or matter a year later, things that seemed not very important at the time and that I otherwise would've discarded. And while it didn't occur to me until recently, I think also to find an escape route out of a music industry that is becoming more and more focused on making money.