single

The strongest Roxette lead single

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Just like we did the poll with the studio album covers, some days ago we asked you to tell us which you think was Roxette’s strongest ever lead single off their studio albums. After checking all the comments under our post and on Roxette’s Facebook page, I counted the votes / mentions and voilà, here is the result. Is anyone surprised that Joyride is the absolute winner? I guess not!

27th February 1991 is an important date in Roxette’s history. Their strongest ever lead single was released that day. Per remembered its 25th anniversary on Facebook the other day:

25 YEARS AGO TODAY! This little baby was released as a single. Fab! /P.

The hit is so strong it became Roxette’s 4th US No. 1 and Joyride, the song itself and the video to it made a tremendous amount of people join the joyride and fall in neverending love with Roxette. I’m also one of those Roxers. As we know, there are many to thank for this hit. Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Åsa, the 1991 Rox gang, the engineers, the studios, etc., but most of all, Per 8th-wonder-songwriter Gessle and of course Marie. Aaah… 25 years! Time flies when you’re having fun!

Judging by the comments, I would say the rest of the lead singles are rather personal favourites. Most Roxers agree that Joyride is the strongest from several points of view, but some fans prefer another single because they became a Roxer thanks to another one or they have nicer memories related to another certain lead single.

Sleeping In My Car is a strong 2nd and How Do You Do! has a safe 3rd place. Dressed For Success is at No. 4, but right after it comes Wish I Could Fly. Neverending Love and She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio) got almost the same amount of votes and The Centre Of The Heart is not far behind them. It’s Possible is a catchy song, but it ended up at the last place as a lead single.

 

Roxette_lead_singles_strongest

 

The 10th studio album lead single, It Just Happens is released on 8th April.

 

Roxette – It Just Happens

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I think the first time we could hear about the song It Just Happens was when Marie’s biography was published. It turns out that the song was recorded in September 2014 at Marie’s studio, Vinden. There was Marie, Per, Clarence and Christoffer to record it. In the book you can read it’s a typical Roxette ballad, like It Must Have Been Love, Vulnerable or Spending My Time.

This is what Per said about the song in October 2015:

Yes, I can now confirm that this is true. One of the brand new songs is called IT JUST HAPPENS. And it’s big and bold and done with love. It’s ready for mix, mastering and eventual human digestion. Stay tuned, folks. /P.

Mr. G confirmed in an interview done by Swedish Radio that the single would be out in April and a video is in the making.

It Just HappensThen came 1st April and the cover of the single popped up. Ojojoj. Most of us thought it was an April fools day joke. I mean the layout of the cover. What the hell is that butterfly with sun-go-down wings and guitar ass doing on the cover? It looks like a cheap and weak Photoshop attempt. Then more and more links appeared to the single and that the release date is 8th April. Oh well… it’s not the first time we don’t like the cover of a Roxette album and seeing this, I’m afraid it’s not the last time either. More important is how the song sounds. You know me, I’m usually one with the most positive approach towards Roxette and their stuff, no matter what they do, but this cover put my expectations and excitement at a lower level. So I hoped for an awesome song at least, if the cover is not the funkiest anyway.

Why to wait until the official release date? These days, in the world of digital music consumption new stuff is released digitally first and maybe even sooner than the official date. It has just happened now. The song is already available on Deezer [The link didn’t work for a while, since Deezer was too early to make it public. /PP] and on Roxette’s Soundcloud page. Oh yeah. The cover of the single is really THAT one. Gosh… I try to get over it, I promise.

The song, I thought it would be more of a sung-by-Marie type of typical Roxette ballad, so the first surprise came when I heard Per start to sing.  To me it’s a little bit of Vulnerable, yes, but more Cooper! A Thing About You and Speak To Me also came to my mind while listening to it. It Must Have Been Love? No, the song is definitely not of that caliber, I would say. But I don’t mind. I find the song attractive and powerful, sounds like classical Roxette, but fresh! I love Marie’s high tones and how Marie’s and Per’s voices blend. By the way, is it me or Per really sounds a bit like David Bowie here? The song is on repeat since at least an hour, so counting with its 3:46 length, I listened to it at least 15 times already. And hey, I can already sing along by heart! OK. Me likes the song and I almost forgot about the cover. 😉 Hopefully, there will be a physical release as well.

 

It Just Happens

It’s a cabaret, taking over on a quiet lazy backseat day
And it’s so beautiful
Like the sunshine on your balcony
Just yesterday

Don’t underestimate
Your heart is never late
And love will always find a way

It just happens
You don’t know what’s going on
If it’s new or if it’s been there since long
If it’s right or wrong
You fall in love
You fall in love

You don’t have a say
Just let it slide and close your eyes and watch the passion play
Don’t underestimate
Your heart can never wait
And love will always find a way

You’ll fall in love
It just happens
You’ll fall in love
It just happens

Don’t underestimate
Your heart can never wait
Love will always find a way

It just happens and you don’t know what’s going on

©Per Gessle

 

IJH makes me curious about the rest of the songs on the upcoming album. Hearing how It Just Happens starts, it is for sure not the intro song. Will it be an uptempo hit then? Most probably. We have to wait until 3rd June to find out. That is the release date of the new album. Oh and don’t forget, a video is coming, too! Hopefully, without any butterflies.

 

Video to the new Roxette single

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As you could read in our article this morning, Per starts a radio podcast on 24th March. A great chance to practice your Swedish by listening to 2 nerds chatting about music.

Today Per visited Swedish Radio P4 Halland and talked about the podcast. In the short interview he also mentioned that he is busy with other things as well. Besides that he started his own record label Space Station 12, there are also a lot of things happening around Roxette. The new album is out in summer, the single is out in April and he confirmed there will be a video to the single which they are shooting next week. Too cool!

Another interesting thing Mr. G mentioned is that they are playing 18 shows in Europe this summer. We know about 14 dates so far, so there are at least 4 more to come. Sounds promising!

Listen to Per HERE!

PG_P4_Halland_02  PG_P4_Halland_01

 

The Look 2015 Remake is out!

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x4h3ea2zw3eduupi8njhSince the news about the collaboration between Roxette and KappAhl was shared, we’ve been looking forward to the 2015 remake of one of Roxette’s most iconic songs, The Look. Many fans are rather hungry for some new Roxette songs instead of hearing a ”hundredth” version of The Look, but the time will come also for the new single and album soon.

 

When the track list of Travelling had been revealed before the album’s release date and we saw It Must Have Been Love as the closing song, I remember many of us were quite skeptical and couldn’t decide if we wanted to hear another version of IMHBL. We had to wait until the album was out and oh the emotions many of us had when first hearing the song (besides all other tracks on the record) I still remember clearly. It sounded like a different song, but still Roxette, still there was the essence of one of the Billboard No. 1 songs and the music and vocals were just perfect.

tl_01The first very short snippet of The Look 2015 remake KappAhl shared some weeks ago already sounded extremely promising and hoped for similar feelings as with Travelling when the complete song sees the light of day. Now the remake is out digitally in 2 versions. (A physical 7-inch vinyl single will be released on 28th August.) LISTEN TO IT ON SPOTIFY HERE! Different emotions than with IMHBL for sure, but again there is this aaaahmazement. Very much 21st-century-like! Even if the original The Look would still be a hit if it was released today as Per also says it in interviews, now the remake has this sound of nowadays. I think Addeboy vs. Cliff added a bit too much of their touch here and there and the instrumental version might not going to be our fave version of The Look, but the vocals in the non-instrumental version are incredibly powerful! If you watch the making of video, you can see how much fun it must have been both for Marie and Per, as well as for Clarence, Pelle and Christoffer to record this remake. THIS VIDEO is an absolute highlight of the project!

Is this remake a kind of prediction how (at least some songs) will sound on the new Roxette album? We’ll see. Hopefully, still this year.

P.S.: Bassflow is hard to beat when it comes to remakes, but The Look remake 2015 comes close after. At least I think so.

tl_03  tl_02

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Stills are from the making of video. Directed and edited by Henrik Hanson.

ATTENTION! Do check out KappAhl’s website for much more information. Even the interview with Per has been shared now in its complete! Great site!

2 versions of the 2015 The Look remake

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x4h3ea2zw3eduupi8njhAs you already know, Roxette was in the historical X-Level Studios to record a remake of The Look for a collaboration with KappAhl. Now it’s known that the worldwide digital release is on 17th July and Per says there might be a vinyl single as well. Bring it on!

Amazon has already listed the album in mp3 format. It will contain not only 1, but 2 versions of the remake:

1. The Look (2015 Remake) 3:58

2. The Look (2015 Remake – Instrumental) 3:55

The record label is Cosmos.

 

roxette_the_look_b&wAs Expressen informed, there will be more material focusing on “The making of The Look” from the X-Level Studios recordings. They claim it will be available on 14th July. However, now that there is an exact date for the digital release, it could be that the making-of stuff will also be broadcast / shared the same day, 17th July. We’ll see.

 

In case you missed the hi res files (Roxette pictures and videos related to the KappAhl campaign), check them at this link: press.bindefeldab.se (username: kappahl; password: press). Beautiful things!

 

Update on 27th June: According to a recent Billboard magazine interview with Per, a physical 7-inch vinyl single will be released on 26th August.

 

Thanx Marc Albrecht for keeping an eye on Amazon!