Gammal kärlek rostar aldrig

Per Gessle on SVT’s cultural news

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Kulturnyheterna on SVT did a report on the current releases of Per Gessle and Roxette. They asked Per about his new single, Ömhet and his upcoming album, Gammal kärlek rostar aldrig, as well as Bag of Trix – Music from the Roxette Vaults. The report starts at 8:30 into the program. Watch it HERE!

Kulturnyheterna starts with an old report and shows it to Per who smiles at his young self. He says it’s from the period before Roxette and that was a bit fuzzy time for him. Gyllene Tider has just ended and he made a solo album that wasn’t especially successful. Some of the songs on Gammal kärlek rostar aldrig were written during that time. The album is out on 6th November. Mr. G tells he tried 60-70 songs and chose the ones that felt relevant and he did a minimalist production. It’s acoustic guitar, piano and a little bass.

Regarding Bag of Trix, Per says it’s a collection of so far unreleased Roxette materials, a lot of demos, some acoustic recordings from Abbey Road Studios, London, which are ”one takes”, they played those live. Marie is fantastic on those recordings, she loved them a lot.

Let Your Heart Dance With Me was the last recording Marie and Per did together in 2016, but it wasn’t released back then. Per tells, when Marie sings ”dance with me, let your heart dance with me”, it’s fantastic. Earlier that was a verse, now it’s a statement.

Mr. G says he was quite prepared for Marie’s passing away, she was ill for so long. But it’s a different thing when it really happens. One can’t be prepared for that. There is emptiness. You miss the relationship, to be able to call her, talk to her, fight with her and laugh with her.

Stills are from the report.

Thanx for the hint regarding the TV program, Angelica Stålnacke!

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.