Roxette

Per Gessle interview for German media – “Marie will always be a legend”

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Spot on news agency in Germany did an interview with Per Gessle related to the Bag of Trix release. Vol. 3 is out today!

On “Bag of Trix” you release rediscovered Roxette songs. What can the fans expect?

PG: “Bag of Trix” is a compilation of previously unreleased songs, most of them from the 80’s.
There are also alternative versions of published songs and songs that were simply lost when switching to streaming. But the songs are definitely worth listening to, I am really satisfied with this album!

Have you found any songs that you would no longer stand behind?

PG: Regarding some songs I think to myself: they weren’t that good. But there isn’t a song that I regret because they were all fun to make. When I listen to Roxette songs from the 80’s, I sometimes think that some of the lyrics were not the best. But I was still young then and not yet able to express what I wanted. And besides that, as soon as Marie started to sing, it almost didn’t matter what she sang.

How does it feel for you to release new albums by Roxette without Marie?

PG: Even if I’m releasing the album without her, she’s still part of it. She’s part of every song. I try to think positively and not let my grief drag me down, because then I wouldn’t be able to continue working on our joint projects. She was seriously ill for so many years – since 2002 – and at some point you get used to the idea that one day she will no longer be with us. It is now almost a year since she passed away and I am trying to look ahead. It didn’t deter me from going through our collection. To hear the songs that I recorded with Marie makes me proud in a special way. A lot of the songs are incredibly good and Marie was a great singer. She was just magical. She made my songs a lot better than they actually were. I think that while listening. We worked together for so many decades which is why I wrote most of my songs especially for her. For me as a songwriter, the way she performed was the greatest gift. When I hear her sing, I always have a smile on my face.

How do you deal with being asked repeatedly about Marie Fredriksson?

PG: She was part of my life since I was 19 and was like a sister to me. That’s why she’s always there and I remember her all the time, for example when I hear a Roxette song. She means so much to so many people and that’s why I like to talk about her. She deserves it, she was a wonderful person. She will always remain a legend and inspire many young people.
I have a lot of contact with her family. I know her husband Mikael very well. We keep in touch and see each other regularly.

You have been a successful musician on stage for several decades. Are you taking it easy now?

PG: I like to be busy. I still write songs, I write all the time. My wife says I work all the time. In Sweden I regularly publish music – including songs in Swedish. But I’m still working on English songs. I’m in the studio several days a week and if it weren’t for the pandemic I would definitely go on tour.

Could you imagine going on tour alone under the name Roxette, if it’s possible to tour again after the pandemic?

PG: I would never revive Roxette with a new female singer. But of course I like to play the songs at gigs, which is why I want to work with female singers in the future. That would of course not be Roxette, but after all I wrote the songs and thirty years of my life consisted of Roxette.

Roxette – Piece of Cake

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A long-awaited song sees the light of day today. Probably, the last Roxette song Marie and Per recorded. I think I can tell that all of us have been waiting for Piece of Cake to be released one day since we read about it in Per Gessle’s Songs, Sketches & Reflections book in 2014. This is what he told Sven Lindström about POC when he interviewed Mr. G for the book:

One of the latest [lyric] is called „Piece of Cake”, and probably is quite typical of my way of writing English lyrics. Someone used that expression recently, and it stuck in my mind. That’s the way it’s worked for me ever since I started writing lyrics, and especially English lyrics. You catch words and phrases that probably get a partially different meaning for me than for someone with English as their native tongue.
Sometimes I sneak such an expression into a line, other times it becomes the track title and then the whole idea is based on that. „Piece of Cake” is an unusual title to work with, since it’s pretty obvious. And since it means that something is dead easy, I will automatically focus on the opposite; I write a lyric about how hard everything is, but that thanks to one thing or the other it will become a piece of cake.

Per Gessle today says:

„Piece of Cake” is one of the very last Roxette recordings, a genuine glimmering sing-along pop song freshly mixed with amazing vocals from Marie. The album „Good Karma” took forever to make, and by the end everyone was pretty exhausted so we never really got around to finish this track. But having a fresh listen to it years later, I realized all pieces were there – it just needed a good mix. So, I sent it to mixer Ronny Lahti who’s got a brilliant ear, always makes things sound spectacular – and he came back with a great mix as usual. Very happy to release this gem! Finally!

Piece of Cake is now out as a digital single and you can listen to it here: Spotify, iTunes, YouTube. It will also be released on Bag of Trix Vol. 3 next Friday, 27th November.

Piece of Cake’s music video premiere is at 3 pm CET on Friday, 20th November. You will be able to watch it on Roxette’s YouTube channel HERE.

In all cases, sing along! Let’s go!

Piece of Cake

Let’s go…

I am busy doing nothing
I am on my own
There is no hot water
I can’t find my comb

My jeans are smelling funny
My records they’re all torn
The zombies on the TV
They won’t leave me alone

But me and you
Make it safe and sound
Me and you
Make it sunny all over this town
Life’s a piece of cake when you are coming around

There’s a church on the block
Baby, I wouldn’t mind
If the numbers on the clock
Knew how to show me a good time

I’m dead as disco
On my own I’m doing wrong
The beat is really steady
But I don’t know the song

But me and you
Make it safe and sound
Me and you
Make the wheels go ’round and ’round
Life’s a piece of cake when you are coming around
Life’s a piece of cake when you are coming around

But me and you
Make it safe and sound
Me and you
Make it sunny all over this town
Life’s a piece of cake when you are coming around
Life’s a piece of cake when you are coming around

Let’s go

Music: Per Gessle + MP Persson
Lyrics: Per Gessle
© Jimmy Fun Music

Per Gessle interview on El Universal, Mexico – ”Marie Fredriksson is irreplaceable”

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In a recent interview on El Universal, Per says ”Marie Fredriksson is irreplaceable”.

She was a very strong woman, she fought even to the end, she never gave up, she wanted to keep going. She loved being on stage, meeting the fans, sharing her love and affection with them everywhere.

Per tells El Universal:

Our last concert was in 2016 in South Africa, there she could still be on stage; she didn’t want to leave the stage or her fans. Eventually, we got to do more than 300 concerts, because she loved it, even if during the last shows she had to sit. But in the end she always got a lot of energy because she loved her audience, she was a great person.

Mr. G remembers Marie as an amazon. She never gave up and always remained strong. He tells she had bad days and good days. The last recording was made in her home studio, because she couldn’t travel anymore, but she wanted to continue participating in all the processes. She was only 44 years old when she got ill, she was very young.

Per says:

I feel fine, but it was very hard when Marie passed away. I knew her since I was 17, it’s been a long time. Although we knew about her condition, when you lose someone who is very close to you it’s difficult to get prepared. At the end of the day it’s very difficult to get used to the idea that you’re going to lose someone. It brings emptiness and changes you forever. It was very difficult what happened, but life goes on and we must continue to be positive for what comes next.

Roxette’s journey lasted more than three decades and their iconic songs (Listen To Your Heart, It Must Have Been Love, The Look among others) will live forever. Per tells El Universal that when they started in the 80’s, it was almost impossible for artists from Sweden to become internationally recognized and successful. At first they thought they would only get to listeners in countries like Germany, Denmark, Norway, but in the end they were very lucky and ended up being around the world. It was a dream come true for them, something magical, a wonderful journey.

Roxette is a legend, however, Per tells that his wife doesn’t think so (laughs). Mr. G’s wish is that the new generations take the efforts and courage the duo had in all aspects as an example.

Per says on El Universal:

We know that we are a great inspiration for young people and that’s superb. We were nobodies, we came from a small town in Sweden and eventually we had that success. Everything can happen in life, so I hope that people will take us as an inspiration.

Per tells it’s impossible to replace Marie. She was unique, she was the lead singer of all the songs. At the same time, he wrote most of the Roxette songs and he wants to continue touring and playing them, singing them himself or using more singers. But it doesn’t mean that Marie can be replaced, because that is impossible.

Regarding Bag of Trix, Per tells El Universal that there are many different things on it and it also reminded him of many things that he experienced with Roxette and Marie.

Every time I heard her voice it made me remember what a great person she was and how brilliant she was.

Photo of Roxette by Jonas Åkerlund

The Bag of Trix is a bag of kix!

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Blog post written by Kirsten Ohlwein

Volume 1.

There it is: Bag of Trix, Volume 1. The music from the Roxette vaults. And while in the past, this was hardly music from the vaults, because I knew 95% of the songs already – this time I got surprised, like, really surprised.

Before I share some loose thoughts about the songs we got, I just want to add that my heart is torn regarding this release. On the one hand, it is a lovely „hi, we still think of you“ towards Marie. I fully get that Per doesn’t want to sit on these songs for the rest of his life – and our lives, too. And I am pretty sure Marie would have loved to share her music with us as well.

It’s a present, a gift, it’s an homage to Marie, a huge one. On the other hand, it certainly leaves a bad taste in my mouth to release this albums almost exactly on the date of her death. But, of course, that’s again just me. In general, and overall, I welcome this release, certainly.

When I saw the tracklist some weeks ago, I already was positively surprised. Volume 1 offers 12 tracks of which I only knew five. That’s not even 50% and so different from earlier „rare stuff“ releases. Yes, I know, I am a hardcore fan and certainly shouldn’t be compared to nostalgic Roxette fans who didn’t follow every release up and down every road. But collections like this one also should provide something to the hardcores.

So, of course, I remembered both Abbey Road Session songs, „Help!“ and „Listen to your heart“ that are the opener of Volume 1 pretty well.

No. 3, „Let your heart dance with me“, came as brand new, as it was the first single off the album. The „Waiting for the rain demo“ has been leaked on some shady bootleg that turned up on a record fair in October or November 2002. I will never forget that day, because the songs on that CD are so special, so good, so Marie. This demo is very special to me, but not as good as the final version, even if the demo is much rockier. I prefer the full orchestral sound of the album version and I am still happy it got this treatment and has been made faster as well.

And, don’t hit me, but I don’t listen to any version of „Joyride“ anymore. This is probably a mix I have never heard before, but I won’t be able to tell you, because I just can’t listen to that song anymore. And, I am sure, as I have listened to perhaps a trillion versions of Joyride, there is nothing there that I haven’t heard before.

And wow, how good is the „Like Lovers Do“ demo?? Recorded on July 25th/26th 1986, and Marie sounds incredibly strong here. After listening to this one, I wonder why they didn’t stick to the original idea to have Marie sing the verses. The song suddenly grows after 30 years. That’s a nice new touch and I would love to hear a version with both voices together maybe?

„Pocketful of Rain“ is a different thing, though. Honestly, if I hadn’t known the lyrics of „Reaching high“, I would have never suspected that this is just a jazzy, very „den ständiga resan“ like version. I had to listen to it three times to finally recognize the song. It is so different, it is so good, it is sooo Marie, it’s not pop music. Yeah, get your priorities straight. While listening to it, it hits me the first time that I am sooo going to miss all these „first times“. The first time listening to a new song by Marie, the first time listening to new lyrics, to new nuances of her voice, to experience this first time feeling of music at all. It breaks my heart, to be honest, to be fully aware of the fact, that the Roxette vaults are not neverending, but they are empty – soon. There will never be new music sung by Marie again – ever. And yes, it sounds super selfish, it IS super selfish to say that, but I am not sure how to deal with that yet. And while she sings to me, it feels like a voice from the beyond is reaching out, like a ghost, like an epiphany of sorts.

The live version of „Wish I could fly“ sounds ultra raw, the same goes for the demo of „You don’t understand me“, which is even more raw than the live track. It’s a nice live track, because they didn’t really perform that song back then, as there wasn’t a HAND tour. I especially compared it to their live version during „Night of the proms“, which I still prefer, because Marie’s voice after her illness was more of my taste when it comes to songs like „Wish I could fly“; and the way she improvised during the Proms. So, her „Fly, oh, baby“ will never cease to exist in my heart.

Track No. 9,the demo of „Happy Together“ which is actually a b-side? I love the song, but it’s not new, right?

Which brings me to the next track, No. 10, „Beautiful Boy“. I assume this one was written for „Room Service“, as it says „Studio Vinden Demo, March 2000“. Ehrm, don’t get me wrong, but why didn’t THIS ONE make the album, but „Little Girl“ did? I am honest here as honest as I always am, and as much as I love Marie’s music, but „Little Girl“ never got me, it never never never got me, not even on the „Room Service“ album, and it’s probably the most boring track she ever wrote, because she tried so hard to make it „pop music“. She shouldn’t have tried, maybe it would have been a better Blues track, who knows. „ Beautiful Boy“ is such a beautiful ballad, and even the demo tells me a lot about how the final version could have sounded. Oh! My heart breaks a bit for never knowing how this one could have GOTTEN me. I love this track and it could have also easily made every Roxette album since „Room Service“.

The „You don’t understand me“ demo from July 1995 is, as stated before, surprisingly raw. I like that Marie doesn’t sing it perfect and gives herself and her voice room to explore the song for the final album recordings. She probably understood what to change and how and why after this demo. The way she varies her voice – I could listen to that all day and just sit and compare to the final version and find out or rather guess why she or they changed it. There are not many sequences in the demo that are different compared to the album version, but there are some parts, and they are gold!

No. 12, „Hotblooded“, the demo, I mean, it’s THE demo, right? Holy crap, where did you hide this one all those years, Per?? It blew off my shoes when I listened to it the first, the second and the third time. And it still does, after twelve rounds of listening. One of my first reactions to a friend was: „You know what? They could have recorded the whole album in that style and it wouldn’t have sold any worse.“ Okay, that’s probably a bit exaggerated, but how good is this demo? I think it’s extraordinary good for several reasons. 1.) You can already hear how good the song is, even without any production treatment, 2.) Marie’s and Per’s voice blending in the verses. Really, play it again, loud, listen how Per is singing the backing vocals to Marie’s leading vocals and understand how perfectly well they fit each other. This was so unique, and if I had a time machine I would go back to 1990 and tell them to record the album exactly that way, 3.) The fun they had together. Yes, it’s the little things. It’s the funny noise he makes at the end that makes her smile. That’s so real, so honest, so pure. Stuff like that belongs on final version, yes, it does, if you ask me. This demo is a real gem and I am happy we finally got it. Thank you, Per, for opening the vaults!

And as happy as I am about volume 1, a part of me can’t shake off the sadness that comes with it. One of the best female singers of the world with one of the purest, softest voices in the world is no longer among us, and it still feels fucking unfair.

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!