Roxette – Let Your Heart Dance With Me

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The long-awaited 2nd treat from Bag of Trix – Music from the Roxette Vaults album series is out this Friday.

A previously unreleased Roxette single, Let Your Heart Dance With Me is one of the last recordings Roxette ever did and is released almost a year after the tragic passing of lead singer Marie Fredriksson. It will be available on digital platforms on 2nd October and is to be released as a limited edition 7″ golden vinyl single in 1500 copies worldwide on 9th October.

Thanks to songwriter Per Gessle’s prolific flow of tunes, classic Swedish pop group Roxette always had a surplus of material to choose between for their albums. Many of these leftover songs were actually strong contenders for inclusion and their quality has made them loved among fans when they’ve popped up as bonus material on singles or compilations.

This was the case up until the release of Roxette’s final studio album, Good Karma, which in the summer of 2016 yielded a couple of songs that weren’t needed for the album. On of them was Let Your Heart Dance With Me, but it finally sees the light of day thanks to the Bag of Trix box set, Roxette’s magnifique collection of unreleased material. The first volume of Bag of Trix is planned to be released on 30th October.

Per says about Let Your Heart Dance With Me:

I wanted to write a classic and simple “clap your hands and stomp your feet” song, and “Let Your Heart Dance With Me” came out of it. I liked it already in the studio, but as usual we already had so many strong contenders that it had to wait for a second chance. And when the idea for this project came up, it was a given.

Gessle gave Let Your Heart Dance With Me to mixing maestro Ronny Lahti, who some two decades ago gave the Roxette album Room Service its characteristic pop shimmer. The result now is a song that radiates summer, sun and optimism, despite being recorded during a time when Marie was on her final days with Roxette due to increasing health problems following her cancer treatment a decade earlier.

Per Gessle says:

Just a couple of months before “Good Karma” was released, Marie’s doctors advised her to quit touring for good. We cancelled the Summer tour and all future commitments. But even a studio recording was demanding for her. She wanted so much, but really had to fight to get it out. And she did. Marie was a real trooper to the very end.

To celebrate this release, Mr. G will do an exclusive interview and answer fans’ questions LIVE on Roxette’s YouTube channel at 16.30 CEST on Friday, 2nd October. After that, premiere of the music video to Let Your Heart Dance With Me will happen at 17.00 CEST. Save the link to the Q&A and the music video premiere HERE and get ready with your questions!

The music video showcases Per and Marie’s close friendship and long companionship that led to the worldwide success. To quote Per:

We’ve also put together a beautiful music video for the song including private footage from the glorious past. Lots of memories and plenty of joy, hopefully not only for me but also for people interested in what Roxette is all about. Can’t wait to watch it together with you – our fans – who made it all possible.

See teasers of the music video here: 1; 2; 3.

See Per announcing the Q&A session HERE.

PRE-ORDER the limited edition single at Bengans, Ginza or check the availability with your local music stores, since it’s a worldwide release. UPDATE on 1st October: the single seems to be sold out at Bengans and Ginza. It might be available again on release day, but it’s worth trying to buy it in other stores. CDON, for example.

Tracklist

A            Let Your Heart Dance With Me
B            Help! (Abbey Road Sessions)

Press release in Swedish can be found HERE.

Let Your Heart Dance With Me

It was so easy to fall in love
It got so simple to fall in love
You know what I did?
I got excited
We were united
So delighted

It was so easy to laugh with you
It was so simple to look at you
You made it possible
By being beautiful
So incredible
Truly wonderful

Dance with me
Let your heart dance with me
Dance with me
Let your heart dance with me
Let me see you smile

I might be living in my car
I might be running near and far
When stars can’t find me
You know where I’ll be
Closed in the mystery
The love of you and me

Dance with me
Let your heart dance with me
Dance with me
Let your heart dance with me
Let me see you smile again
Let me see that smile

Words + Music by Per Gessle
© Jimmy Fun Music

Watch the premiere interview with Per Gessle HERE and the video to Let Your Heart Dance With Me HERE.

Nypon och ljung – new single by Per Gessle is out

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Nypon och ljung, the first single from Per’s upcoming album is now out. Listen to it on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube and other digital platforms! Look at the amount and type of instruments Mr. G plays! Oh wow! And the vocals! And the melody! So catchy!

Per tells he wrote his new album’s opening song, Nypon och ljung for Gyllene Tider’s Dags att tänka på refrängen album in 2012, but they never recorded it. He thinks he didn’t even present it to the band. Later, before his Nashville trip in 2016 he made a demo, which is completely different. In the end, he didn’t record it in Nashville either. It was just lying around though he always liked it. He was sitting at home and played and it got some sort of swing that can’t really be found in his old demos. He was thinking of J. J. Cale’s old drum box stuff from the ’70s. That fits this song very well, so he made a very simple demo with a little drum machine. It turned out just fine, so he went to the studio and did an acoustic version, then added instrument after instrument. Per Thornberg came to play tenor sax, Helena came to sing, ”Gicken” Johansson plays the bass, Jens Jansson plays the drums and Per plays all other instruments. He says it was incredibly fun and unexpectedly, it became one of his favourites.

NYPON OCH LJUNG

Min dörr är aldrig stängd
Min dörr står alltid glatt på glänt
För henne

Min dörr är aldrig stängd
Fönstret står alltid lätt på glänt
Så jag kan höra henne: oooohh….

Hon hann ikapp och förbi
Hon hann ifatt och for förbi
Det är helt OK

Hon hann ikapp och förbi
Med stav och hatt, som trolleri
Och det är helt OK

Hon kom med nypon och ljung
En gammal känsla som känns ung
Ny och ung

Hon kom med nypon och ljung
En gammal känsla som känns ung
Orörd och ung: oooohh….
OK

Text + musik: Per Gessle
© Jimmy Fun Music

Produced by Per Gessle
Recorded at T&A, Halmstad + Sweetspot, Harplinge July + August 2020
Engineers: Mats Persson (T&A) + Staffan Karlsson (Sweetspot)
Mixed by Mats Persson + Per Gessle

Vocals + acoustic guitar + electric guitar + clapping + pump organ + Wurlitzer: Per Gessle
Vocals: Helena Josefsson
Bass + lap steel: Fredrik ”Gicken” Johansson
Drums + percussion: Jens Jansson
Tenor sax: Per Thornberg

Lyric video HERE!

Photo of Per on the single cover is by Åsa Gessle

Gammal kärlek rostar aldrig – tracklist of the new Per Gessle album

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Per Gessle’s new Swedish solo album, Gammal kärlek rostar aldrig (Old love never dies) will be available on LP and CD, as well as on digital platforms. The vinyl comes in two versions – gatefold with black vinyl and limited edition coloured vinyl (1000 copies). The release date is 6th November 2020.

Tracklist

1. Nypon och ljung
2. I din hand
3. Du kommer så nära (du blir alldeles suddig)
4. Hjärta utan hem
5. Segla på ett moln
6. Ömhet
7. Viskar
8. Lycklig en stund
9. Tända en sticka till
10. Som regn på en akvarell
11. Mamma
12. Pappa
13. Kom ut till stranden

Don’t forget that Nypon och ljung is out as a single digitally on 18th September.

You can pre-order the album at Bengans and Ginza.

Cover pic by Bruno Ehrs.

Read more about the album in the press release HERE.

Per Gessle to release a new Swedish solo album

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PRESS RELEASE – Per Gessle spent his summer down on the Swedish West Coast looking back on his 44 years as a songwriter. He wrote his first song in 1976 in contemporary new wave spirit and since then there have been hundreds of compositions.

On the new album, Gammal kärlek rostar aldrig Per interprets his own Swedish favourites from the ’80s onwards. Most of it is acoustic based and Per plays almost all the instruments himself. “All of them, except the difficult ones”, as he himself says.

I wrote the songs Mamma and Pappa for Mother’s Day in May earlier this year and was reminded of how fun it is to make it easy for yourself, play the piano and guitar and just sing.

On the new album, Per often sings with Helena Josefsson, but in one song also with Uno Svenningsson. For the first time, Per has also collaborated with local Halmstad musicians such as Per Thornberg on tenor saxophone and Gicken Johansson on bass and lap steel.

Per is an old acquaintance and is one of Sweden’s best jazz saxophonists. Gicken was new to me, but he is clearly Sweden’s Duck Dunn! A fantastic bassist. And MP from Gyllene Tider is of course involved. Without him, no coffee!

I have the privilege of having a fantastically rich song catalogue. There are so many songs from different decades that I never recorded for different reasons. There are songs I wrote for other artists such as Segla på ett moln (Anne-Lie Rydé) and I din hand (Svante Thuresson).

Some songs I always carried with me and they still feel relevant. Viskar, Tända en sticka till and Kom ut till stranden were written in the early ’80s, but still mean a lot to me. Ömhet I wrote a little too late for it to catch up with the Mazarin train. Nypon och ljung was intended for my Nashville adventure, but never made it. It’s been incredibly fun to meet them again.

Nypon och ljung will be released as a single on 18th September. The album is out on 6th November.

Photo from Per’s archives.

Press release in SWEDISH.

Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle in the John Holm documentary

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When I saw there is a documentary about John Holm, I wanted to watch it right away. Det finns så många vägar – en film om John Holm was recorded between 1980 and 2017. I was interested in it to get to know more about the artist who was a great inspiration to both Marie and Per.

I expected Mr. G to appear in the docu, but never thought Marie would be there talking too. Oh my God! 1:24 into the program and the first artist who is talking about John Holm is Marie Fredriksson. My heart skipped a beat. So amazing to see her! She tells John meant so much to her and to so many people in Sweden. Marie says he was kind of divine. Right after Ms. Effe, Per tells John wrote terribly good songs and he thinks there is no one else in Sweden who wrote so many good songs for one album as John for Sordin.

At 16:20 Per tells in a 1999 SVT archive report that John’s first 2 albums are the best 2 Swedish albums of all time. They meant a lot to Per. Those and Lundell’s early albums made him start writing songs.

At 44:38 you can hear Marie singing backing vocals for John on Verklighetens afton (1988). She says John Holm was an icon for her and she always loved his lyrics. Then meeting him in real life and singing with him was enormously awesome.

At 1:04:42 you can see Per attending his first ever John Holm gig in 2016. And we all know the story didn’t end there. Per and John recorded a duet, Det är vi tillsammans in 2017 for Per’s En vacker dag album.

In the documentary there are other artists, old friends, John’s son, journalists and producers, as well as John Holm himself talking. It’s a docu that is worth watching not only for his fans. A piece of music history about one of Sweden’s biggest artists, his ups and downs, his life, his music.

At the end there is written: In memory of Marie Fredriksson and Arne Arvidsson. So nice, yet so heartbreaking.

 

Stills are from the documentary. Unfortunately, it can only be watched in Sweden.