STOCKHOLM - The online store CDON has revealed the, until now secret, tracklist of "En händig man":

01 En händig man [A Handyman]
02 Pratar med min müsli (hur det än verkar) [Talking to My Müsli (However it Looks Like)]
03 Jag skulle vilja tänka en underbar tanke [I'd Like to Think a Wonderful Thought]
04 Fru Nordin [Mrs. Nordin]
05 Dixy
06 När Karolina kom [When Karolina Came]
07 Hannas kärlekspil [Hanna's Love Arrow]
08 Om du kommer ihåg [If You Remember]
09 Om jag vetat då (vad jag vet nu) [If I'd Known Then (What I Know Now)]
10 TomTom
11 Våldsamt stillsamt [Violently Quiet]
12 Trött [Tired]
13 Samma gamla vanliga visa [The Same Old Song]
14 Min hälsning [My Greeting]

En händig EP:

15 Hon vill sväva över ängarna [She Wants to Float Across the Meadows]
16 Signal
17 Solen kom från ingenstans [The Sun Appeared From Nowhere]
18 Du kommer så nära (du blir alldeles suddig) [You're So Close (You Get All Blurry)]

Swedish radio station Mix Megapol will premiere the song on Monday at 07:00 CET.

According to a picture The Daily Roxette has found "Om jag vetat då (vad jag vet nu)" was considered for Gyllene Tider's "Finn 5 fel!."

After some delay we can now present to you a larger version of the sleeve.

STOCKHOLM (Updated) -

The Daily Roxette is proud to present the title and sleeve of the new single, which is "En händig man" (3.01) The b-side is called "Vet du vad jag egentligen vill?" (2.03) ("Do You Know What I Really Want?") and is according to Per a version of a song named "Solen kom från ingenstans" ("The Sun Appeared from Nowhere") from "En händig EP." Photos by Anton Corbijn.
Planned radio date is May 21, and it will be in stores the 23.

HALMSTAD (Updated) - Per has been kind enough to send us another update on the new project. He says the single has been chosen, and he will get back with the title. The b-side will be exclusive to the single. Regarding the album Per says that it will be relased in three different versions: a twelve page booklet, a 24 page booklet and a "deluxe" version which will include an EP ("En händig EP") with four extra tracks not available on the "normal" album. (Which will have 14 tracks.) "We're still talking about an LP [vinyl] version, but I'll get back about that. Believe it or not, but we're still mixing, we'll be done tomorrow, Sunday!"

Per comments about the EP. The songs on the EP are not left-overs, they are as great as all the other songs. "The reason I made a 14+4 scenario is that 18 songs on one single album is too much in my book! The album would be too long (I think)," Per explains. "The EP is just as good as the 'normal' album, but a unit of its own."

Update: Word has just arrived that there will be an LP. Seven tracks on each side, all in all 41 minutes. Simple division shows us that the average song on "En händig man" is 2.56.

(Updated) - "Att vara Per Gessle – den auktoriserade biografin" ("Being Per Gessle - the Authorized Biography") is the title of a new book that tells all about Gyllene Tider, Roxette and the man himself. The book is being written by reporter Sven Lindström and follows Gessle from his youth in Halmstad to the Big Break and further on to international success.

Besides interviews with the man himself, the book also contains a lot of impressions by school mates, colleagues, relatives and friends. Of course the book also contains quite a few pictures from Per Gessle's almost 30 year long career.

The book is released at the end of September in Sweden.

Per informs The Daily Roxette that they are working on a few different sleeves.

Update May 8th: According to the publisher's website, the book will be out on September 4th and will officially cost 445 SEK (about 45 Euro), but will surely be available a lot cheaper in different online stores.
Here you can also find a list of all (online) stores where you can order the book.

Update II: According to Per the book has been delayed until the end of October due to a change of art directors.

HALMSTAD - Gyllene Tider's "Småstad" and Per Gessle's "På en promenad genom stan" are featured on the compilation album "Halmstads Greatest vol 1." All the songs on the album are performed by artists from the city of Halmstad, reports the local newspaper Hallandsposten. The album is the first release by Halmstad Records, a new label founded by Per's friend, Gyllene Tider guitarist Mats "M.P." Persson and businessman Bengt Petersson.

"Halmstads Greatest" will be released in mid-May. A big release party will be held in Hotel Tylösand with all the artists featured on the album invited.

Editor's note: Hallandsposten article also has a nice picture of the famous T&A Studio in M.P.'s basement where many of Per's demos are recorded.

STOCKHOLM - Per "dropped by" and updated The Daily Roxette on the new project: "We've mixed 11 out of 23 tracks until today. It sounds tuh-riffic!" Per also says that the album photos were taken last week by Anton Corbijn in Lisbon, Portugal. They are finishing the sleeve this week and the album goes to mastering next Friday. "We're toying with ideas like a vinyl edition, a bonus CD and stuff like that. What do I know??"

A single will be released as promised, Per won't tell us yet what the title is but the planned release date is May 23. (This is a guess, but the single is planned to be released the third week in May, and as singles are released on Wednesdays…)

STOCKHOLM - In a open hearted, albeit short, interview with Per he has revealed to The Daily Roxette that the new album "En händig man" does not consist of new material after all. Per has done a "Bon Jovi" meaning he has recorded old material in a new and different way. Just like Bon Jovi's "This Left Feels Right - Greatest Hits with a Twist." In this way "Leva livet" has become a power ballad, while for instance "Spegelboll" is now a jazz piece.

There will be a couple of new tracks on the album, but the main part is old stuff. "I wanted to take a new view of some of my older material," Per says, and continues "Some songs I was never happy with, this way I can make them sound just the way I always wanted." Per compares this new album with the restored and changed original "Star Wars" trilogy.

So the title "En händig man" is really referring to Per being handy in changing the songs around. The album is out June 13, as planned.

STOCKHOLM - Per will be a guest in TV4's talk show "Förkväll" tomorrow night at 17:45 CET. He's there to talk about the impending tour, and to "spread summer feelings." Per himself doesn't know what will happen: "Anything can happen when girls are involved…"

LJUSDAL - The Daily Roxette is talking with Per Gessle in the mix, down in Skåne:

- A handyman, that's not really what people think when they hear the name Per Gessle, is it?
"Ha ha, no I suck at most things like that and people know this, that's why we chose that title. There's a song called that too."

- Speaking of that, you've been recording new Son of a Plumber material simultanously with this, how has that worked out?
"Nooo, I just said that to fool people. We've only recorded Swedish material… 21 songs. Some are even over three minutes!" he says with an obvious humorous grin present in his voice. The fact is that we are mixing as we speak," Per says as the sound of a keyboard blares in the background.

- Ha ha, OK, funny as ever… What has been your inspiration this time?
"Well, I'm an old man, so it's the same inspiration, same influences as ever." Read: We're getting soft pop á la Gessle. "But there are a few rocky Gyllene Tider-power pop numbers as well!"

- So, you're still in the mix?
"Yes, and we've also recorded material live in the studio, because it's so much fun to sing and play at the same time. But I'm really a bit nervous. What if the album isn't good? Some of the material we haven't heard since September… then it might not be done in time? But they wanted it in the press release so they could sell tickets," says Per.

- I'm sure you'll do fine. So this Plumber story, it's dead at the moment?
"Naah, no, yes, at the moment. EMI Blue Note was releasing the album in the US, but as EMI is down-sizing now I've just received a thanks but no thanks. Too bad, as my contact at Blue Note just loved the album. I'm still shopping around though, as the album is quite timeless it doesn't matter if it's not released in 2007.

- A handyman on tour?
"That's right, it's been four years, isn't it time again?"
- Absolutely!
"Yes, my feeling exactly, it's so much fun to play, we have a damn hunger [for that] now, after four years… and MP is with us this time. He was on the album but we remixed him off of it! Although some Gyllene Tider songs can't be played without good old MP. And Christoffer," Per divulges, "can't play 'Det hjärta som brinner' so… This Gyllene Tider thing is hard, you can't play for example 'När vi två blir en' without a bouncing Göran Fritzon behind the Farfisa, can you?"

No you really can't, but Per and I quickly agree that "(Hon vill ha) Puls" sounds quite decent with Clarence behind the keys.

- Back to the tour, what will you play for us?
"You know, we don't really know yet. We've been considering playing some Plumber live, because it would sound great. On the other hand, it's hard to mix languages because you may lose the focal point. Besides that we have tons of material to choose from."

Per says that the Swedish media will probably call this tour a flop as he'll never get the numbers that GT got in 2004.

- Who cares about that?
He agrees reluctantly, and says "well, you know media…"

Per tells us that as usual there will be a single before the album release, but as he hasn't even mixed the album yet, he doesn't even know what it'll be. "I may not even be in on the decision making," he says. Nor is the sleeve even started. The new press photos, taken by Henry Diltz in Los Angeles, were taken only for the tour and possibly posters, but won't be used for the album. "It'll be Anton (Corbijn) or Jonas (Åkerlund) if I can get them," he explains. "They're both shooting movies right now. Jonas was going to do the L.A. shoot but couldn't get away from Canada, where he's filming."

- As you've been recording since September, will Marie be on the album?
"No, not this time."

"See you soon!" says Per as our conversation comes to an end and he returns to the mixing board. Read more…