Vinkompassen has just shared an advertisement of Sommartider wines from The Per Gessle Selection. More than that, if you are in Sweden and you are among the first 200 who order a case of 12 bottles from the deliciously refreshing Sommartider rosé or the summery Sommartider white, you get a personal greeting from Per himself. If anyone of you is getting that personal greeting, let us know what it is – if it’s not too personal. 😉
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjGldtRbB_E
As you could hear it with your own ears in the Australian radio interview with Per, he started writing new songs for Roxette a couple of months ago and they will go to studio in August to record new material before they start rehearsing for the tour in September.
Now Per reveals in an interview with The New Zealand Herald that they are planning to do an EP with 4-5 songs. However, being the hit machine he is, there might be a new studio album coming! That’s what he says:
We’re talking about doing an EP, four or five songs. At the same time, knowing me, I write a lot and if everything goes well, it might as well be a full-scale album.
Fingers crossed for a full album!
Besides this, he tells what the secret behind one of pop’s most enduring relationships is:
It helps that we never had a romance. We’ve known each other all our lives and it’s like a brother-sister relationship. When Marie got ill in 2002, it was a nightmare for all of us. I’m so pleased that she’s still alive. To be able to do these tours again is just amazing.
We are all so pleased, too! Bring on the new album and the tour!
Tour dates for Australia and New Zealand were announced this week and it seems Australians are very happy about the news! So here is a collection of what’s been going on this week on Australian media.
Newspapers have covered the news extensively, and are currently running a contest to win 10 double passes for each of the five Roxette concerts in Australia. You can find more details about the contest on News Corp Australia newspapers (state links: Daily Telegraph, The Advertiser, Herald Sun, Perth Now, Courier Mail).
And there were a few radio interviews with Per, like the one on KOFM 102.9 (see embedded audio below) radio or or Gold104.3 where Per revealed that he started writing new songs for Roxette some months ago and that they will get into the studio in August to record some new material and will start rehearsing in September. Per also explains he spends about 15-20 minutes a day updating Roxette’s Facebook page, and that he likes this kind of communication, “in the old days there was such a huge gap between you and the audience, nowadays you can interact with your fans in a total different way.” He also tells that he likes to know what fans think about this and that, “for me it’s pretty cool to find out what people are interested in, sometimes I ask people questions what they want to hear, and you get like 2000 answers, it’s fun to read.” Regarding Eurovision Song Contest 2014, Per thinks the winner song by Conchita Wurst’s “Rise Like a Phoenix” is a nice song, but he thinks the show is very long. Besides that, he wrote some songs for the Song Contest many years ago (without any big success).
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/149624368″ params=”color=0066cc&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Australian TV also reported about the come back of Marie and Per to down under:
The Today Show
Right at midnight CET, The Per Gessle Archives – Demos & Other Fun Stuff!, Vol. 1 became available on Spotify. That meant no sleep at all! And not only to me. My neighbours will surely kill me one day (if I’m not killed by Per’s voice by then)… Yeah, you could guess it, I’m in love with this stuff!
Started listening to the songs one by one and I got breathless already by the first track. Don’t want to reveal what song it (or part of it) became later, because it’s an amazing thing, listening to such a demo for the first time without knowing any background to it. Awesomeness! Goosebumps all over me!
Always loved how Per can leave a song alone for years, even for more than a decade and then suddenly take the demo out of his drawer, come up with new ideas to it and oh-la-la, a new song is born. He is talking about it in details in the Conversations with Sven Lindström. I could really listen to him talking about songs and songwriting 24/7.
Per says regarding the release:
I’m a big demo fan myself … and I know there are so many people out there – hardcore Roxette fans and Per Gessle fans – who are really interested in my work. I just thought it was a nice thing to release for those guys.
The conversations are just like what we are used to anytime there is an interview / discussion involving Mr G and Sven. Good mood, friends talking to each other with the same enthusiasm about music. Lots of fun, smiles and laughs.
It’s fab to hear that Per is still planning to release an acoustic album in the future. Not the first time he mentions it and I trust he will really come out with such a record. That will be a glorious day.
In the first volume we get many Gessleish lyrics and melodies, as well as tremendous amount of details about where, when, how or even why the demos were recorded. It’s also cool to have this mix of English and Swedish demos.
Per says regarding the project that there is ”no stone unturned”. He is so wrong! There ARE stones unturned, but he is doing it so right. He gives us so much, but there is still something left to be longing for. After this project he could do a ”1st version demos” compilation album. He surely knows that after listening to the 3rd or any other numbered version demos we are just too curious about how they sounded for the very first time. Anyway, we can only be grateful for this wonderful gift from him. Still 10 volumes are waiting for us! Woohoo!
Enjoy listening to the first volume and don’t forget that Vol. 2 is out in a week on Spotify! iTunes will have it from 2nd June.
According to Australian newspaper Herald Sun, Roxette will visit Australia in February 2015 as part of the new world tour that will start in October this year. In addition, the New Zealander news website Stuff reported today that Roxette will give a concert in Auckland as well.
These are the dates announced so far also by Live Nation. Tickets go on sale on May 27th, 2014. Pre-sale is on May 21st.
February 7th – Auckland , Vector Arena, New Zealand
February 10th – Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia
February 14th – Perth Arena, Perth, Australia
February 17th – Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide, Australia
February 20th – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia
February 21st – Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley, Australia (A Day on the Green*)
February 23rd – WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, Australia
February 27th – Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia
February 28th – Bimbagden Estate, Hunter Valley, Australia (A Day on the Green*)
*A Day on the Green is an outdoor event that combines “good food, fine wine and great music in magnificent locations” as indicated on their website. Rochford Wines is about 60 minutes drive from Melbourne and Bimbagden Winery is 50 minutes from Newcastle / 2,5 hrs from Sydney. Maybe Per will get inspired for new wines to add to his collection?
Just make sure you are seating when you see the prices; they range from 99 to 525 AUD in Sydney, the latter for first row seats with VIP packaged, for example. Understandable to read negative reactions on the net, the prices are very high. The VIP packages include access to the VIP area, drinks and a couple of souvenirs like a tour book or a laminated card.
Don’t miss the interview published on Herald Sun! Per talks among others about playing in Australia, Marie’s solo tour and the preparations for the upcoming tour.