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 (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.

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…)

Courtesy of Mikael Bolyos we are able to stream "When The Lord Is About To Come," the first single off his forthcoming album "A Family Affair".

Mikael has also revealed that Marie Fredriksson is singing on the album, which will be available through the usual online music stores such as CDON, Ginza and iTunes.

The Daily Roxette also wants to take this opportunity to congratulate Mikael on his 50th birthday!

Listen to "When The Lord Is About To Come"

Mirror

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.

Mikael revealed in an interview with TDR last year that he was planning to release his first album in April, on his birthday, and it looks like his dream is now about to come true. The first single, "When the Lord Is About to Come," will be released on April 6. The album will be released mid May, "I'm so happy I managed to finish my album on time!" Mikael tells The Daily Roxette.

The song is a duet with Mats Ronander, whom you might know as ex-guitarist of ABBA and support act to Per Gessle's Mazarin tour 2003 or playing the harmonica on some of Marie Fredriksson's albums. Mats is a blues guy and the ex-hubby of Sanne Salomonsen.

More information about the album will come soon.

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…

Year 2006 is nearing its end and it's time for the annual The Daily Roxette "Year in review" article.

This year was obviously a very important one for Roxette, since it was the band's 20th anniversary. On July 8, 1986 a mysterious duo called Roxette released their debut single "Neverending Love." The members of the duo, Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson, didn't even put their faces on the single sleeve. The song became an instant summer hit in Sweden. It still took some time before the band broke through in other countries, but that's a completely different story — a story you've heard so many times before.

The first half of 2006 was mostly about Per's solo project Son of a Plumber, although the fans were already anxiously waiting for news about how Roxette will celebrate their big year. Son of a Plumber — or SOAP, as we call it — released its second single in Sweden, "Hey Mr DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)." Per also convinced some of the European EMI branches of the SOAP project and "Hey Mr DJ" was announced to be the first SOAP single outside Sweden. To promote the song, a music video was shot and a remix EP was released in digital format only.

Bad Hair Day was another digital tryout by Per. To the delight of fans around the world, he released "Mazarin" and "Son of a Plumber" demos for free on the Internet using the pseudonym Bad Hair Day.

While Roxette is in the headlines again, fanclub calls it a day

A surprise or not, in March the Netherlands-based Official Roxette Fanclub announced that it will cease all operations immediately, with disgruntled fans and obvious management problems. The problems still keep going on to this day as their debts are still not settled. Marie Dimberg of d&d management, manager of Roxette, released a press statement saying that there will be no more official fanclub in the future. The fanclub, in this format, opened its doors during the mid-nineties after the UK-based fanclub closed for much of the same reasons.

An interesting coincidence was that at the same time as the fanclub quit, Roxette was in the headlines again, the press touting their comeback.

In March TDR met Per in Vienna where we discussed Son of a Plumber and of course the upcoming Roxette 20th anniversary, which showed an excited Per. Per was traveling around promoting SOAP. However, the few countries that picked up the album, didn't manage to sell it to the extent it was worth. So what else happened in March? Well, TDR met Per in Stockholm too, where he re-hashed his mumbo jumbo about "Roxette" whatever that is… No, seriously, it was yet another successful interview. We are very thankful for our conversations with Per, and from the looks of it, so are you!

We also finally got the confirmation from EMI that Roxette was back in the studio! No one knew what was coming out of it, a new album maybe? Well, we got quite a few releases in the end. Most importantly, the Skåne recordings ended up in two new tracks: "Reveal" and "One Wish."

Read more…

STOCKHOLM/HALMSTAD - Per and Marie have been kind enough to share a Christmas greeting with us once again:

Awright!
2006 turned out to be a good year! Not only for the roses but also for this little band from the outskirts of Europe.
We managed to deliver a good-looking RoxBox as well as 2 new songs (btw, you have to check out the new remixes of Reveal…. very cool if you ask us…) and a few TV-shows to go with that.
2007? Well, who knows. Marie is talking about more art exhibitions and more exciting solo stuff, Per isn’t talking at all at the moment (he wants to go xmas shopping, the taxi’s waiting…) but knowing him some raunchy urban x-rated hip-hop music isn’t far away!

Luv,
Marie & Per

Marie also sent a very special surprise to all the fans around the world - which you see to the left; click to enlarge.

Judith contributed to this article.