Releases

Per Gessle to release new album under PG Roxette

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As Göteborgs-Posten informs, Per Gessle has decided – there will be a continuation for Roxette, under the name PG Roxette and with Helena Josefsson and Dea Norberg on vocals.

Since singer Marie Fredriksson passed away on December 9, 2019, Roxette partner Per Gessle has not really known what to do with the band that made the two friends world stars in the 80’s and 90’s.

Now he has come to a decision. Roxette continues under the name PG Roxette. A new single is coming already in May, an album in September and after that a big tour. Per Gessle will sing together with Helena Josefsson and Dea Norberg, both longtime members of Per’s expanded musical family both solo and with Gyllene Tider and Roxette.

PG says in a press release:

It’s not possible to replace Marie and that is not something I want either. It was an era and a fantastic dream we got to share together. But it feels exciting to be able to continue this journey – albeit in a different way. If Marie had still been alive, we would of course have done this together.

The new album is already done, in the studio there were good old Roxette musicians: Jonas Isacsson, Clarence Öfwerman, Magnus Börjeson and Christoffer Lundquist. Of course, drummer Pelle Alsing, who passed away in 2020, was missing.

Per adds:

The new material feels really fantastic. It’s not always easy to renew yourself when you’ve been around for as long as I have. Sometimes you feel that you repeat yourself, but sometimes you end up on untrodden ground and become so wonderfully curious and then I feel that this is my life, that this is what I can do.

Per Gessle is currently preparing for a twelve-concert spring tour with an acoustic setting where he plays songs from his entire career.

Photos by Patrícia Peres from 2014 (PG + Dea) and 2018 (PG + Helena).

Uno Svenningsson & Per Gessle – Bara få höra din röst

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Uno Svenningsson and Per Gessle have released a new song together. Bara få höra din röst is now out on streaming services! Listen on Spotify, Deezer, YouTube (track 1, track 2), Apple Music and other platforms! The single contains two tracks, including an instrumental version as well.

It’s not the first time the guys collaborated. Actually, not the first time in the sense of already released material. The first duet we could hear from them was Du kommer så nära (du blir alldeles suddig) on Per’s Gammal kärlek rostar aldrig album, November 2020. In fact, BFHDR originates from an even earlier period!

Per tells RoxBlog:

We wrote and demoed the song in June 2018. The very first demo had just nonsense lyrics sung by Uno. I wrote “real” lyrics pretty quickly with a slightly different title, demoed it on my own and forgot about the song. Uno called me up one day in 2020 and said he would like to use it. He had an idea altering the melody/chords in the chorus a bit but that was fine with me. I wasn’t supposed to sing on it at all but he asked me to add some backing vocals just for fun. It sounded cool. We sound good together! Two very strange voices! And then he wanted some harmony vocals. I was flattered and started fooling around with the production a bit. And then I sang the entire second verse. Suddenly we had a duet. My Gosh.

In the press release Uno tells:

Writing songs together with others is a little craft and adventure in itself and then to have the chance to write with Per, the best songwriter, is fantastic. It’s been easy-going and much fun. Two guys from the countryside who like music, it can’t get any better! I’ve always liked Per’s voice and that our voices fit so well together is awesome. “Bara få höra din röst” is therefore a telling title! My son, Mark Bihli is responsible for arrangements and production, and he has done a brilliant job.

Per adds:

Uno and I have been running into each other for many years. Not least down in Tylösand in the summer. We’ve talked for a long time about writing something together and “Bara få höra din röst” popped up one summer day out of nowhere. Just like the best songs are born. It’s incredibly fun to work with Uno, our voices are so different but fit together in some strange way terribly well. Extra fun that his son Mark wanted to produce. He has done a fantastic job.

A video to the song is set to premiere at 10:00 am CET on 21st January. It was recorded at Andreas Dahlbäck’s Durango Studio in Stockholm at the end of 2021.

Bara få höra din röst

Jag vet det är tokigt
Och alldeles för sent
Jag har suttit framför datorn
Med korslagda ben

Och kvällen har blivit
Som en virvlande vals
Jag kan inte koncentrera mig
På något alls

Du kanske redan raderat mig
Så jag går mot ett annat håll
Logiken studsar som en boll
Mellan tak och golv

Jag vill bara få höra din röst
Ingenting annat nu
Svara mig snälla du
Jag vill bara få höra din röst
Säg vad du vill för du
Jag vill inget annat nu

Det kanske är vinet
Och allt socker och salt
Jag ser din kropp vänd emot mig
Nästan överallt

Så skål för historien
Två hjärtan som brann
Och för ett ensamt skepp
Som letar efter sin hamn

Jag tror du suddat ut mig nu
Jag har försvunnit i ett moln
Jag önskar allt var som förut
Helt under kontroll

Jag vill bara få höra din röst
Ingenting annat nu
Svara mig snälla du
Jag vill bara få höra din röst
Säg vad du vill för du
Jag vill inget annat nu

Words + Music: Uno Svenningsson + Per Gessle

Photo of Per & Uno by Pär Wickholm

Per Gessle releases two albums on his birthday

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Since a while it’s a wonderful tradition that Per releases stuff on his birthday. This year he decided to give us access not only to one, but two albums full of demos. One of them is the updated Look Sharp! 30th Anniversary Edition. Many of us have the physical box (2018), but the good thing is that now we get some extras. 11 demos are added that weren’t released on the box and some of them haven’t been officially released at all before. Those 11 tracks are the ones marked with a * next to the title in the tracklist below.

The other surprise is 20 vackra demos, all the demos PG made and used for the Nashville-sessions in 2016. This album is released under The Per Gessle Archives.

It seems that Mr. G won’t ever run out of demos. Lucky fans we are! Haha. Per tells:

That’s the way it goes. I find recordings and demos all the time in my drawers and old pockets!

The two albums are now available on all streaming services (links next to the album titles above the tracklists). No physical release is planned.

LOOK SHARP! 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION tracklist (Spotify, Deezer, YouTube)

Disc 1 (Original album)

  1. The Look
  2. Dressed For Success
  3. Sleeping Single
  4. Paint
  5. Dance Away
  6. Cry
  7. Chances
  8. Dangerous
  9. Half A Woman, Half A Shadow
  10. View From A Hill
  11. (I Could Never) Give You Up
  12. Shadow Of A Doubt
  13. Listen To Your Heart

Disc 2

  1. The Voice (B-side Dressed For Success-single)
  2. One Is Such A Lonely Number (Demo – September 1987) (B-side The Big L-single)
  3. Don’t Believe In Accidents (Demo – Spring 1988) (B-side Run To You-single)
  4. The Look (T&A Demo – Mar 30, 1988)
  5. Dressed For Success (T&A Demo – May 20, 1987)
  6. Dressed For Success (EMI Demo – May 26-30, 1987)
  7. Sleeping Single (T&A Demo – May 22, 1987)
  8. Sleeping Single (EMI Demo – May 26-30, 1987)
  9. Paint (T&A Demo – Apr 22, 1988) [On the physical release it’s Apr 28. /PP]
  10. Dance Away (T&A Demo – Feb 9, 1988)
  11. Cry (T&A Demo – Feb 9, 1988)
  12. Chances (T&A Demo – Nov 24, 1987)
  13. Dangerous (T&A Demo – Feb 11, 1987)*
  14. Dangerous (acoustic version) (T&A Demo – Feb 25, 1987)
  15. Dangerous (EMI Demo – May 26-30, 1987) [On the physical release it’s Sep 26-30, but the correct date is this on the streaming release. /PP]
  16. View From A Hill (T&A Demo – Nov 17, 1987)
  17. (I Could Never) Give You Up (T&A Demo – Dec 18, 1987)
  18. Shadow Of A Doubt (T&A Demo – Feb 9, 1988)
  19. Listen To Your Heart (T&A Demo – May 9, 1988)
  20. Boom Boom (And Boom Boom Again) (T&A Demo – Sep 15, 1987)*
  21. In My Own Way (T&A Demo – Sep 15, 1987)*
  22. Love Spins (T&A Demo – Sep 15, 1987)*
  23. Love Spins (T&A Demo – Nov 18, 1987)*
  24. One Is Such A Lonely Number (T&A Demo – Aug 26, 1987)*
  25. Drowning In You (T&A Demo – Apr 17, 1988)*
  26. Silver Blue (T&A Demo – May 21, 1987)*
  27. The Thrill Of It All (T&A Demo – Aug 26, 1987)*
  28. Physical Fascination (T&A Demo – Apr 17, 1988)*
  29. From Head To Toe (EMI Demo – May 26-30, 1987)
  30. Never Is A Long Time (EMI Demo – May 26-30, 1987)
  31. Never Is A Long Time (T&A Demo – Nov 11, 1987)*

Update on 1st February 2022: Mr. G added 6 songs to the Look Sharp! 30 set:

  1. Let’s Party! (T&A Demo – Jul 14, 1988) (B-side I Want You To Know-single)
  2. Start! (T&A Demo – Feb 19, 1988)
  3. Night Wire (T&A Demo – Apr 9, 1987)
  4. Pocketful Of Rain (T&A Demo – Jun 12, 1987)
  5. Rocket (T&A Demo – Apr 9, 1987)
  6. The Voice (T&A Demo – Mar 24, 1987)

Update on 7th February 2022: Mr. G added 1 song to the Look Sharp! 30 set:

38. Silver Blue (Demo)

Update on 25th February 2022: 1 more song added to the Look Sharp! 30 set:

39. Here Comes The Weekend (T&A Demo – Mar 30, 1988)

 

THE PER GESSLE ARCHIVES – 20 VACKRA DEMOS tracklist (Spotify, Deezer, YouTube)

  1. Min plats (T&A Demo – Sep 29, 2016)
  2. Första pris (T&A Demo – Apr 4, 2016)
  3. Småstadsprat (T&A Demo – May 9+17, 2016)
  4. Enkel resa (T&A Demo – Dec 14, 2015)
  5. Allt gick så fort (T&A Demo – Sep 14, 2016)
  6. Tittar på dig när du dansar (T&A Demo – Aug 4, 2016)
  7. Några glas rosé (T&A Demo – Jul 4, 2016)
  8. Far Too Close (T&A Demo – Mar 10, 2015)
  9. En vacker dag (T&A Demo – Jul 20+21, 2016)
  10. Det är vi tillsammans (T&A Demo – Mar 24, 2016)
  11. Känns som första gången (T&A Demo – Nov 6, 2012)
  12. Trodde inte mina ögon (T&A Demo – Apr 16, 2016)
  13. Parentes (T&A Demo – Jul 28+29, 2016)
  14. Känn dig som hemma (T&A Demo – Apr 13, 2016)
  15. Ge allt du kan (T&A Demo – Apr 26, 2016)
  16. Ruby and Me (T&A Demo – Sep 16, 2016)
  17. Nypon och ljung (T&A Demo – Dec 14, 2015)
  18. Första pris (T&A Demo – Mar 4, 2016)
  19. Tittar på dig när du dansar (T&A Demo – Dec 14, 2015)
  20. Måla mitt minne (T&A Demo – Nov 19, 2002)

Female vocals on 20VD are Helena Josefsson (Enkel resa + Nypon och ljung) and Anna Lönnberg-Volden (En vacker dag + Far Too Close + Måla mitt minne).

Happy birthday, Mr. G and many thanx for the prezzies!

Per Gessle releases the Finn 5 fel! demos

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Lucky fans we are! Per Gessle continues releasing demos from his archives. The new set he thought to surprise us with this Christmas is the demos to Gyllene Tider’s Finn 5 fel! album. The album contains 14 songs, but there are only 9 tracks on this current release. Well, the album title is „Find 5 errors!” and… haha… 5 demos are missing: Solsken, Ta mej… nu är jag din!, Du måste skämta, Ande i en flaska (Gabba Gabba Gabba Come On Come On Karma Karma) and Har du nånsin sett en dröm gå förbi? Why, you might be wondering. Here is what PG says about it:

I only made these nine demos. The other songs were presented to the band when we got to the studio. “Ande i en flaska” is a silly version of “Ghost In The House”. “Ta mej… nu är jag din” is based on a Rox track I demoed in Nov 1999 called “I Don’t Care If It Rains”. It will pop up eventually… Or not.

This guy knows how to tease! Fingers crossed I Don’t Care If It Rains sees the light of day in the near future.

FINN 5 FEL! – DEMOS tracklist

1. En sten vid en sjö i en skog – T&A Demo, 28 Okt 2003 – 2:42
2. Tuffa tider (för en drömmare) – T&A Demo, 30 Dec 2003 – 3:25
3. Ordinärt mirakel – T&A Demo, 2 Dec 2003 – 2:42
4. Jag borde förstås vetat bättre – T&A Demo, 28 Okt 2003 – 3:20
5. Nere på gatan – T&A Demo, 3 Dec 2003 – 2:57
6. 72 – T&A Demo, 20 Juli 2002 – 3:47
7. Varje gång det regnar – T&A Demo, 27 Okt 2003 – 3:37
8. Hjärta utan hem – T&A Demo, 2 Dec 2003 – 3:00
9. Speciell – T&A Demo, 28 Dec 2003 – 2:32

Listen to the F5F demos on Spotify, Deezer, YouTube or other digital platforms! No physical release is planned.

Gyllene Tider’s story becomes a film!

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Nordic drama production company Nevis Productions has secured a deal with Sweden’s great music treasure, Gyllene Tider to make a feature film and a TV-series based on the band’s incredible journey to success.

Per Gessle and Mats Persson formed Gyllene Tider with Micke Andersson, Anders Herrlin and Göran Fritzon in the late 70’s. After taking Sweden by storm, they broke up in 1984. Per Gessle then formed Roxette with Marie Fredriksson and became successful all around the world.

The feature film about Gyllene Tider is developed in full collaboration with the band and will be a warm feelgood story about friendship and growing up in the spotlight. The script is written by Pernilla Oljelund (Miss Friman’s War, Wallander, The Restaurant) and the shooting will start in 2022. Producers at Nevis are Anni Faurbye Fernandez, Moa Westeson and Cindy Hanson.

The film tells the story of Per, an ambitious outsider who dreams of pop stardom and finds a brotherhood through music with MP, Micke, Anders and Göran. They experience the highs and lows, but despite all setbacks, being ridiculed and rejected, the band works hard and purposefully – and breaks through with their power pop, their effective choruses and joyous and affectionate lyrics about life in a small town.

The movie is a story about dreaming big and achieving something even bigger. Success is not only accompanied by joy and happiness, but also pressure, conflicts and tragic events that challenge the band and force them to grow up in unexpected ways. In the end, it’s the friendship and music that lead forward. The gang not only survives, but also becomes bigger than ever.

After their breakup, Gyllene Tider reunions and tours have taken them to heights that no one, least of all themselves, could have imagined. When the band celebrated their 25th anniversary with their first new album in 20 years, the tour in 2004 became the largest in Scandinavia ever and the third largest in Europe. For over 40 years, GT has maintained its popularity and been loved by generation after generation, who have grown up with their songs. Gyllene Tider reunited several times, most recently in 2019. At that time, they celebrated their 40th anniversary as a band and also released a studio album, Samma skrot och korn.

Per Gessle says:

The story of the guys in Gyllene Tider could be the story of any young small town person. The shaky possibilities after finishing school, the uncertain prospects of the future. However, inspired by the new wave and power pop scene of the era, bonding in our tiny rehearsal shack, we found a very unusual way to grow up. The early and crazy Gyllene Tider years changed our lives forever. And it seems we might have changed some other people’s lives as well along the way. The lads and I are all excited to be part of this production.

Producer Moa Westeson adds:

We have long dreamed of dramatizing the exceptional, inspirational story behind legendary Swedish pop band Gyllene Tider and are excited to bring the audience along on this fun, uplifting whirlwind celebration of music, friendship and coming of age that captures the zeitgeist of a bygone era.

Nevis is an independent production company with offices in Copenhagen, Stockholm and London. Nevis Productions was founded in 2020 by Anni Faurbye Fernandez, Cindy Hanson and Moa Westeson and is backed by London based production company NEVISION. Their mission is to create high quality storytelling that appeals to both the local Nordic market and to a wider, global audience. With passion and dedication, they aim to entertain, inspire and move audiences with a variety of creatively ambitious TV dramas.

PRESS RELEASE