Malene and I were in the same grade in elementary school, but it wasn’t until 1998, at a school concert at her high school, that I heard her sing for the first time and I was completely blown away. I asked her if she was up for starting a rock band together, and she was.

In elementary school, I remember her as a quiet, nice, and somewhat nerdy girl, but she had now gotten a ring in her eyebrow, dyed her hair black, and was wearing all black clothing. She was perfect as the front figure for a rock band.

During the first days with the band, we played cover songs while we began to create our own. She grew into the role, but I pushed her a lot. I particularly remember the song “You” by Radiohead. There is a point in the song where Thom Yorke sings “Aaaaah!” with full force, and every time we reached that point, Malene backed out and didn’t sing the note. It frustrated me, and it ended with me demonstrating and singing the note as well as I could. I think that made her think that there was no reason for her to hold back. It gave me goosebumps when she then sang the piece. There was the fucking star I knew was in her.

We wrote a lot of songs together, either where I had lyrics and she found the melody or where I had some chords/riffs and Malene had the lyrics. Neither of us had made music before, so we felt our way around and got better and better.

Malene’s vocals have many faces. She has a rich mid-range sound, and then she has a bright almost falsetto sound. When she switches between the two, I think it sounds really special and cool. Her very own sound. Her lyrics have many cool expressions, and it has always been interesting to listen to. I’m particularly fond of “Get U.” Another song that hits me is “Take all of me,” which repeatedly gives me a lump in my throat.

She has always had a very expressive look in her eyes, so even though she is not a lead singer who jumps around on stage like, for example, Gwen Stefani, Malene comes across just as strongly over the stage.

If there is one thing that bothers me more than the fact that the band will never play again, it’s that the rest of the world has not yet heard Malene’s voice. But maybe that can still happen. I’m crossing my fingers, at any rate.

Thank you for the music and your beautiful laughter.