I’m really happy to tell you that from today on, you’ll be able to download “Introducing…” from www.musicshop.se for only 3,99 kronor a song. That’s just 48 kronor for an entire album. Oh come on, that’s the price of a single beer. You’ve really had one too many anyways, so go home and buy the album instead.

Tonight, we’ll celebrate the birth of Introducing: Hello Saferide at Debaser here in Stockholm. Reasons to be there:

* I’ll be performing with a band for the first time. The result is about 4783637 squadrillions better than I ever dreamed it would be.
* And even if you’re weird and think we suck, you’ll still get to listen to Elias & The Wizzkids.
* You’ll be able to buy new, amazing Hello Saferide pins!
* And, eh, it’ll be fun.

Check under Listen for a little indie gospel anthem I like to call “San Francisco”.

Today I rehearsed for the second time with the Hello Saferide Allstar Band who’ll be meeting you on tour this autumn. We’re like Grymlings, or Travelling Wilburys for that matter, but about 500 years younger. Oh, and we also don’t own mansions.

The band:

* Andreas Söderlund from Niccokick - He plays guitars, keyboards and sings backup. He’s also got the somewhat doubtful pleasure of being the person I ask everything. Like:
- Andreas, what exactly does a tour manager do?
- Andreas, what are we supposed to play here?
- Andreas, what is an aardvark?

* Jens Lagergren from Thunder Express - He’s a great bass player, but really, the best thing about him is that he comes from Östersund too, so when I tell my not-very-exciting anecdotes from home he’s actually interested.

* Fredrik Hultgren from Dreamboy - Plays the drums. I’ve borrowed so much from Dreamboy (their singer, their drummer, a place to rehearse).Tomas Fridholm wrote in Musikindustrin that I perform a song called Dreamboy with Ludwig Bell (really, I sing I thought you said summer is going to take the pain away with Ludde FROM Dreamboy). Now, I’m starting to think it might be a good idea to actually write a song called Dreamboy. It could be my celebration to them for being so good to me.

* Maia Hirasawa, Maia’s Case - She’ll be with us on some gigs, helping us out with backup singing and handclaps. The only bad thing about Maia is that she sings so well that everytime she opens her mouth, everyone will wonder why the heck I’m the one singing lead.

Thanks to the always lovely Mats Strandberg for writing about me in Aftonbladet today. Mats says he does not only like my songs, he also thinks I’ve got another ace up my sleeve: I bear a striking resemblance to Anya the revenge demon from Buffy - the vampire slayer.
Ok. There must be something about my face. It’s like Proust and the Madeleine cakes. Except for me being the Madeleine cake. I remind people of… well, other people. Apparently, every human has got an aunt, a neighbour or an old class mate that looks “just like” me. When I was blond I got Kylie Minogue about 4635423456 times. Which would have been nice if I hadn’t been smart enough to realise that makes me the fatter, uglier version of Kylie. I would rather be the better looking Meatloaf, hell, the healthier Shane MacGowan for all I care.

Other people that looks “just like me”:
Emma Thompson, actress
Kina Wileke, Swedish news anchor
Ally Walker, actress
Jim Carrey, actor
Hemlige Arne, secret
Sheryl Crow, singer
Allyce Beasley, plays annoying assistant in 80’s series Moonlighting
Elisabet Höglund (at least my hair and the way it looks in the morning)