Don't Be a Stranger

Combining moody and melodic tones as if Portishead were a Swedish pop band, Don’t Be a Stranger formed in 2002 when Liv Widell met sisters Louise and Christina Weibull. The trio would meet once a month in the small village of rural Värmland, but after a year of these casual jam sessions, they decided to take things further. After taking their name from a line in the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and adding drummer Johan Forsman, the band moved to Stockholm in 2005. Local guitarist Konie Ehrencrona was recruited along with bassist Mattias Albinsson, and by the end of the year, they had released their debut EP Ho Ho. Their album Frutti di Mare was released by the Cheap Lullaby label in 2009. ~ David Jeffries