I have high regard for Erik Hassle, not just because the Swedish singer-songwriter’s a fellow ginger, but because he recently made it super-easy to purchase his music directly. Acknowledging the world is now indeed flat and adjusting to that new reality, Hassle’s move is one this music fan wishes more overseas artists would/could follow.

In March, Hassle released the Mariefred Sessions EP, a collaboration with Jocke Berg and Martin Sköld of Kent. First single “Are You Leaving” remained on my go-to playlist for weeks, and now Hassle is back with a second serving from his mini-album, “Stay Away.”

A song about a relationship’s end (lately a favorite theme of male pop artists), “Stay Away” has a certain Kings Of Leon meets The Killers instinct. The music video avoids the tune’s doomed-love theme entirely, taking an “Eric Hassle: The Early Years” approach that the artist says is “the result of hours of scouring the family video archives.”

Take a walk down Hassle’s memory lane, and see if you agree that watching a tiny Eric take a bow with his violin is just about the most adorable thing ever.

Purchase Erik Hassle – “Stay Away” (from the Mariefred Sessions EP) via his website.