I try and take it for what it is, and I'm very at peace with the fact that when I'm done with the songs, they don't belong to me anymore. They belong to the listeners.

I think of the Jens Lekman in the songs as a completely different person who's stealing my stories.

I remember when I grew up and Dad would take me to kindergarten in the morning, and you could smell the chips in the air from the factory nearby.

I've started listening to music in a new way after I started running. When it comes to running, I really got into the idea of track listings that way, too.

When I was working on 'Night Falls Over Kortedala,' I was listening a lot to 'Graceland,' the Paul Simon record. I really got into the lyrics on that album. The opening line is so brilliant, the way he sets the scene.

I realised that music controls me more than I control music. I had to write songs that were convincing me that things would get better.

I think a lot of my songs are very silly and very stupid, written to entertain people, but in the end, I always come to that last line, and I feel that I have to wrap this up with a bit of dignity and a little tear in the eye; otherwise, the joke would be on the characters in the song.

Once I release a song, it's not just about me or the people... I write about. They're my stories, but they're not really mine any more.

Australia's beautiful, but I'm not too into Australian culture.

I need to write a sitcom, but something with warmth, not one where the dad comes home and he's treated like an idiot.

I start writing songs first as an entertainer, and I like funny stories that wrap up with dignity.

There's so much nostalgia for music from the past.

I think it's healthy that people that work in a creative field look for inspiration in a different creative field.

I wouldn't write about something that I haven't experienced myself.

It always feel like people are doing more grown-up things than you are.

I think when you get into your 30s, you start to realize all of the patterns you have in your life and all of the stuff that you're avoiding. It's a terribly unsung period in people's lives. I can't think about many artists who have sung about it, because it's so not sexy.

The way to write really good songs is to write about the things that happen in your life and where you are in the moment, and writing about stuff that happens in your 30s is not the sexiest song subject.

I have this part in myself that sometimes gets me into situations that can never end well, just because I want to prove to myself that I'm no good.

Any band that doesn't have a sense of humor has a little bit of a problem.

I like telling stories with a sense of humor. But humor can also distance you from the subject you're writing about. I'm interested in using humor as a portal to something a bit more serious.

A lot of my songs are written prophetically: I write something, and then I make it happen.

I became paranoid for a long time: I thought that people were out to harm me.

You carry all these hurts and breakups with you forever. But there is this sort of joyful realization that the things that caused you pain were real. There is something beautiful and invigorating in holding onto that.

I've established a certain voice over my albums. It can be an obstacle, but in the end, I think it's a strength, because I can build upon that voice, which is ultimately very much mine.