Aftonbladet joined Per Gessle and Lena Philipsson on their promo day and Anna & Hans Shimoda did an interview with them about their upcoming adventures. HERE you can read the original article in Swedish.
The other week the news hit like a bomb; Per Gessle, 65, brings new life to Roxette with Lena Philipsson, 58, at the microphone. The tour starts in Cape Town in South Africa on 25th February and Aftonbladet is the only newspaper to have met both an excited Per Gessle and a somewhat surprised Lena Philipsson.
Per says smiling:
It happened when we made the duet “Sällskapssjuk” for my new album that I thought that “Lena is not that bad”.
Brain tumor
Pop icon Gessle has long considered what to do with Roxette’s impressive song catalogue. Classics such as Fading Like A Flower, The Look, It Must Have Been Love and Joyride had to be put in the dustbin when Per Gessle’s friend and bandmate Marie Fredriksson passed away in 2019 in the aftermath of the brain tumor she was diagnosed with in 2002.
Per says:
In recent years, I’ve been thinking about whether I should do anything at all with Roxette. I’ve been thinking about how to best manage the legacy and Roxette’s song catalogue live. There were two ways, not to do anything with it at all or to try to find a way that fits as well as possible. It was not an easy decision.
Gessle continues:
When I worked with Lena, I felt that she is very talented as a frontwoman, she has a lot of experience, comes from the same era as me and is a fantastic singer. We also have a history together, I was involved in writing her breakthrough song “Kärleken är evig”.
I gathered all my courage and asked her, thinking that she would probably fall off her chair, and she almost did.
‘Only way to do it’
Stepping into Marie Fredriksson’s shoes is of course not easy, but Per points out that it is about managing Roxette’s music.
The only way for Lena to do it is to do it her own way.
Lena Philipsson is sitting on the couch next to Per Gessle and looks sometimes at Per, sometimes at the floor.
When I was asked to do “Sällskapssjuk”, I of course said yes and Per wondered if I would sing it in Stockholm or if I would come down to Halmstad. I went down to be in Pers hoods. A few days later, a message arrived in which Per wrote that he wanted to meet and that he would ask a crazy question.
Aftonbladet is curious about what Lena thought then.
I felt that “Yes, it worked”. But I thought that maybe there could be another song together or a tour, but I didn’t expect this.
She continues:
I was about to fall off my chair, but I immediately started thinking about what the fans would think about it and how it might turn out. I’m good at identifying the problems, but of course I feel incredibly honoured.
Will it sound familiar?
I feel like I’m an invited guest here, I’ll let Per decide. I won’t get into the artistic side that much. But my feeling is that I want to sing the Roxette songs as they should be.
Per turns to Lena:
Stick to your own way.
Lena says:
Yes, I do have my voice, but I don’t feel that I should do my thing and screw up everything. I want it to feel like the original.
Have a favourite song
Lena Philipsson says there is one Roxette song she is particularly looking forward to singing – a favourite:
There are so many good songs, but I have to say “Dressed For Success”, it’s so much Roxette for me and it’s really Marie’s song.
Lena Philipsson points out that she is not afraid of being compared to Marie Fredriksson.
No, then I would never have said yes. The comparison will of course be made anyway. But I have to dare to take it, otherwise I would have had to say no. I care about doing a good job and want the Roxette fans to feel satisfied.
The tour takes place in South Africa and Australia, but if all goes well, it could be any size, according to Gessle.
What we are doing now as a pilot thing. We will see how it feels and if it turns out as I believe and hope, there are no limits to what we can do.
Interview by Anna & Hans Shimoda, photos by Andreas Bardell for Aftonbladet