During their long history together, Roxette delivered a catalogue of unforgettable pop rock anthems such as It Must Have Been Love, Listen To Your Heart, Fading Like A Flower, The Look, Dressed For Success and Joyride. Climbing up the charts the world over, Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle sold over 80 million albums and achieved five consecutive UK Top 5 albums. As much as they were a defining influence on the ’80s and ’90s pop scenes, their songs are still being discovered and admired today – as evidenced by 8.5 million monthly listeners at Spotify.
Sadly, Roxette came to an end in 2019 with the tragic passing of Marie. For years, Per was torn between what to do next: Marie is irreplaceable, but he also wanted to celebrate her life and her legacy with the fans that made their journey what it was. Eventually, he reunited the classic Roxette live band – Jonas Isacsson, Clarence Öfwerman, Magnus Börjeson and Christoffer Lundquist – and called upon long-term backing vocalists Helena Josefsson and Dea Norberg as the people most able to channel some of Marie’s immense talent and indomitable spirit.
This new era starts as PG Roxette shares his debut single The Loneliest Girl In The World along with its official video. The song is the first taste from the upcoming album Pop-Up Dynamo!, which follows this September.
The Loneliest Girl In The World feels like a natural next step for Per Gessle. With exuberant energy, the sweetest of melodies and their trademark don’t-bore-us-get-to-the-chorus addictiveness, it’s a song that would fit comfortably into any era of Roxette’s hefty back catalogue. Whether you consider it to be the poppiest rock around or pop with a little rock edge, it’s unmistakably Roxette.
Per says:
I had so much fun making these recordings. I really tried to go back to the writing style I had in the early days of Roxette and it was a blast. Some of the songs are the best I’ve ever done. And to work with all my Roxette-friends once again was amazing. We stick together like glue.
So that’s how PG Roxette came about. But why Per felt the need to return is best told in his own words. He explains:
Since the ’80s, my whole life has been spinning around Roxette and to this day it’s still what excites me the most. There are millions of people out there who still love the band so of course I want to keep our music alive. At first, I wasn’t sure which way to go but as time passed by it became clear that I want to continue this fantastic joyride. I want to keep the legacy of Roxette alive.
I’ve written almost every song Roxette has recorded over the years and they mean the world to me. When I started to write, my ambition was to try to create a sibling to ‘Look Sharp!’ and ‘Joyride’ – and that’s actually exactly how it sounds. I’ve wanted to create a modern production, but with the typical Roxette trademarks.
It’s impossible to replace Marie and that was never my intention. Our Roxette era was an unbelievable fantasy that we got to share together. I’m excited to be able to continue this journey, but in a different way. Needless to say that if Marie was still here, we’d be doing this together.
I feel this is the right decision. I’m so proud of this body of work and I love working with these people.
Tracklist of the single:
A The Loneliest Girl In The World
B Sunflower
The physical, limited edition 7″ vinyl single you can pre-order at Bengans, Ginza and other online shops. You can pre-save the digital version – and with this, enter a contest to win a digital meet & greet with Per Gessle – HERE.
Release date is 3rd June!
