As revealed earlier this year, iTunes became one of the first online stores selling music published by EMI without copy-protection. EMI artists include Roxette, Per Gessle, Marie Fredriksson and Son of a Plumber (links open iTunes Store). Many albums and singles by them are now available as "iTunes Plus." This means that the songs can be burned and copied without restrictions after purchase. The songs also have a better bit rate. Individual songs cost a bit more (in Europe 1.29 Euros instead of 0.99 Euros), but full albums are available for the same price as the protected ones.

The DRM-free releases include the new Per Gessle single, "En händig man/Vet du vad jag egentligen vill?" To get the songs in iTunes Plus format, view an album or a single In iTunes Store and click the iTunes Plus link to see the list of DRM-free songs.

STOCKHOLM - Per, the last time we spoke you were doing the final touches of the mixing, now the album finally is mastered and finished and the sleeve is done. Do you still feel it's "tuh-riffic"? Is there anything you are especially happy with this time? Is there anything you aren't happy with?

I'm extremely pleased with the album, I'm a very lucky man indeed, having this profession. I'm also glad that I managed to convince everyone that this brilliant EP had to be included! The four "extra" songs are as important as the other fourteen, no sub-standard third division tracks here, dear boy! And getting Anton Corbijn onboard doing the cover shots was terrific. He's the best there is! And really hard to track down!
The whole package looks fantastic and feels very personal and even slightly "luxurious". Just the way I like it.

You mention in the liner notes that you recorded "En händig man" with horns and that it somehow ruined the song, what went wrong?

Well, nothing went wrong. Clarence and Christoffer wanted to try out a brass and a string section. But I felt my voice sort of disappeared in the arrangement. I had a completely different route planned for this song. The version you hear on the album and single is more or less the way I wanted it to be. But you know, you have to try different things all the time otherwise everything would sound the same at the end of the day.

Which songs on the album are your favorites, at the moment?

"Min hälsning" became an unexpected winner. It's recorded completely live in the studio with vocals and all. "Jag skulle vilja tänka en underbar tanke” became just as good as I had hoped for. That’s probably my favorite track of them all. "Samma gamla vanliga visa" has that lovely '70s pop feeling that I adore. Sort of like "Hjärta utan hem" from "Finn 5 fel!." But I like all the songs, otherwise they wouldn’t have made it to the album, right! "Hon vill sväva över ängarna" from the EP is also excellent in my book. And "Pratar med min müsli" has got a killer organ-intro!

What can you tell us about this year's tour? Have you decided what you'll play yet? "Mazarin," English material, Gyllene Tider, Plumber, a mix? We talked about it the last time as well, but you hadn't yet decided. You did order sun, didn't you?

Yep, I have booked a heatwave and sunshine throughout July and August! You can do that at Ticnet nowadays. But I haven’t, believe it or not, decided what to play yet! We'll try out lots of songs during the rehearsals. But for sure, a few GT sledgehammers will be included but no Rox. Hardly any SOAP, I guess I'll be sticking to the Swedish bonanza.

"Om jag vetat då" was written as "If I'd Known Then (What I Know Now)" for Roxette 2002, but it was never recorded. Was there no time or…? I also happen to know that Gyllene was scheduled to record it for "Finn 5 fel!," but it never showed up there either. What happened?

Regarding Rox, there wasn’t any time, Marie was ill so we had to concentrate on just one track. So we chose "Opportunity Nox" instead. Regarding GT: the song didn't fit the concept. Everyone in the band liked it but we felt we needed another type of material for that particular record. But for this album, it was perfect.

My favorites are, just like yours, "En underbar tanke" and "Om du kommer ihåg." They both have great lyrics and amazing, sweet melodies. I come to think of "Om du kommer ihåg" as a prelude to "På promenad genom stan," am I right or is it subconscious?

The lyrics to "På promenad gemon stan" are quite old so I don't know… I haven't really thought about it. "Om du kommer ihåg" I’m very proud of. It has one of those very intimate lyrics and melody lines that just pops up in your head. In my head anyway… hard to put my finger on it. I wrote the melody and the lyrics at the same time in my library here in Stockholm, they fit rather good together. And my fingerpicking is of course out of this world, ha ha ha…
Read more…

Mikael Bolyos revealed the tracklist of his coming "A Family Affair" album to The Daily Roxette today. The CD, which will be released on June 14, includes a couple of surprises:

1. Merry Go Round
2. On & On & On
3. Me & My Guitar
4. When the Lord is About to Come (duet with Mats Ronander)
5. In the Corner of Your Eye (sung by Marie Fredriksson)
6. Lilly
7. Tell It to My Heart (sung by Marie Fredriksson)
8. You Are On My Mind (sung by Mats Ronander)
9. What Am I Supposed to Do
10. Outro (sung by Marie Fredriksson)
11. Hometown (sung by Marie Fredriksson)

Update May 25: Courtesy of Mikael we are able to stream yet another song from his coming album: "Me & My Guitar". Enjoy!! (Editor's note: where has Mikael been all this time??)

Update May 30: Mikael's website is now online: www.bolyos.com 

Me & My Guitar

STOCKHOLM (Updated) - The Daily Roxette is proud to present the world premiere of a snippet of the forthcoming single "En händig man." The single will be relased to radio Monday May 21 and to stores May 23. Enjoy!

By the way, take a stroll to the new site where Per blogs about the new video shoot.

Both Rix FM's MorgonZoo and Mix Megapol's Äntligen Morgon med Adam & Gry will play the single early Monday morning. Per will be a guest at Rix FM, and possibly even Mix Megapol. Both radio stations have webcasts. Per will be on Rix around 07:25 and Mix Megapol shortly after that.

En händig man

STOCKHOLM - Per will guest the show Sverige on SVT2 this Sunday May 20 at 18.15-19.00 CET. Reruns on May 23 & 24.

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.