As some who listens to a LOT of music (even when I’m not “listening” to music, I’ve usually got a song in my head), sometimes I get bored with my entire collection and need something new. I felt that way this morning, and as luck would have it, my eMusic credits had just refreshed. So I browsed, and browsed, and browsed… listened to a ton of stuff but nothing was grabbing me. I didn’t really know what I was looking for. But I knew I’d know once I found it.
A link from a link from a link (I think it was actually from a list of “quirky songwriters”) led me to Hello Saferide. And I instantly knew.
Hello Saferide seem to be doing rather well for themselves, judging by their website, with frequent touring (including a recent visit to the States), a few videos, lots of very pretty t-shirts, and even winning two Swedish “Grammi”s for best lyrics as well as best female pop act. However, I had never heard of the band until this morning. Now, I can’t stop listening to them.
Fellow music fanatics know that feeling, when you listen to an artist and the music resonates so much with something inside you that you feel like you’re suddenly engaged in a very private conversation. That’s exactly the feeling I get when listening to Hello Saferide, and that’s exactly the reason I love their songs so much.
Hello Saferide are a Swedish indiepop band led by singer/journalist Annika Norlin. It’s instantly apparent that Annika’s deeply honest and raw lyricism is Hello Saferide’s strong suit; reminding me a bit of early Ben Folds (the piano tracks in particular), the singer has a very deliberate, unaffected delivery that is highlighted but never overshadowed by the capable, yet sometimes understated, musicianship of her bandmates. It’s hard to pick a fave track off Hello Saferide’s “More Modern Short Stories from Hello Saferide” (which apparently was only recently made available in the US as an import), but the track that had me searching out the lyrics the quickest was definitely “X Telling Me About the Loss of Something Dear, At Age 16″:
I looked up at the ceiling the entire time
Well it didn’t last for long
Like 15 minutes or so. They had said it would hurt, but it didn’t
His face all grumped up, veins were showing on his forehead
Closed my eyes and thought of dancers,
closed my eyes and thought of dancers
I thought of what my friends would say
I thought of how my life would change
I just laid real still there on the bed.
Afterwards I said, like I hear you’re supposed to:
“Was it good for you as well”
He was proud, said: “Ok we can do it again
But maybe this time, you can do it better than this
You can do it better than this.”
I faked to come, because I hear you’re supposed to
There was obviously something wrong with me and I didn’t want him to know
I was afraid he’d have a heartattack and die
I went to work at the shoestore and waved him goodbye
I felt sad, but I didn’t know why
Do you want those in red, I said
250 with laces, I said
Years later, I can still vision that forehead
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