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Friday, 10 September 2021 • Single
For this project Per has joined forces with long-time Roxette collaborators Clarence Öfwerman, Jonas Isacsson, Christoffer Lundquist and Magnus Börjeson together with the amazing vocalists Helena Josefsson and Dea Norberg, both closely linked to the Roxette touring band.
All profits from this song go to Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation and UNHCR.
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I’m thrilled to participate in the “Metallica Blacklist” project. Picking a song to record from their classic “Black Album” was pretty easy for me. “Nothing Else Matters” has always been a favourite of mine. Wow, it’s such a great track!
Under the banner “PG Roxette” I joined forces with long-time Roxers Clarence Öfwerman + Jonas Isacsson + Christoffer Lundquist + Magnus Börjeson together with Helena Josefsson + Dea Norberg, both closely linked to the Roxette touring band of the past.
My ambition was to treat the song with respect while transforming it to a style of my own. I’m very pleased and proud with the outcome.
All proceeds from the recording will go to Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation and to UNHCR, a charity I chose together with Marie Fredriksson’s family.
The “Metallica Blacklist” album will be released on September 10.
facebook.com/RealPerGessle,
…
“They have this hardcore following but they’re sometimes also mainstream,” says Per Gessle, who disbanded Roxette in 2019 following the death of his musical partner Marie Fredriksson.
Gessle didn’t hesitate when asked which Black Album song he wanted to cover. He went straight to six minute, 28-second power ballad, “Nothing Else Matters”. Collaborating with Roxette touring vocalists Helena Josefsson and Dea Norberg, Gessle gives the chugger a Europop sheen while staying true to its stately, funereal essence. “I come from the power pop scene,” he says. “My roots are The Beatles, The Who and Tom Petty. My guilty pleasure is Burt Bacharach. I’m sure he likes ‘Nothing Else Matters’ too.”
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The new, more commercial Metallica would win fans far and wide. “I never really heard them before ‘Enter Sandman’ and ‘Nothing Else Matters’ came out,” says Roxette’s Per Gessle. “Those two songs were on the Top 40 stations and that’s what we listened to at the time.”
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As Gessle says simply: “It sounds great – and the timing was perfect.”
All that matters: How Metallica’s Black Album changed metal forever, The Independent,
I’m thrilled to participate in the “Metallica Blacklist” project. Picking a song to record from their classic “Black Album” was pretty easy for me. “Nothing Else Matters” has always been a favourite of mine. Wow, it’s such a great track!
Under the banner “PG Roxette” I joined forces with long-time Roxers Clarence Öfwerman + Jonas Isacsson + Christoffer Lundquist + Magnus Börjeson together with Helena Josefsson + Dea Norberg, both closely linked to the Roxette touring band of the past.
My ambition was to treat the song with respect while transforming it to a style of my own. I’m very pleased and proud with the outcome.
All proceeds from the recording will go to Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation and to UNHCR, a charity I chose together with Marie Fredriksson’s family.
facebook.com/RealPerGessle,
I remember hearing Nothing Else Matters all the time on the radio in the early 90’s when Marie and I travelled the world constantly. We always joked about that it actually could have been an amazing Roxette ballad, hahaha!
We both loved it very much. So what I’ve tried to create now is to make it sound like a classic Roxette song.
I’m extremely proud to be part of this Blacklist-project under the name PG ROXETTE. It’s a project that connects artists and bands from all over the world for good causes. Thank you Metallica.
facebook.com/RealPerGessle,
Wanna know how NOTHING ELSE MATTERS came about in the studio? Here’s the story.
I’ve always thought NEM was a beautiful song. It’s got strong melodies, pretty straightforward but smart chord progressions, a lyric you can interpret in many different ways. It’s epic. If I should cover it I would love it to sound like a classic Roxette ballad! Shorten it a bit + create a magnetic intro.
We noticed at the Marie Tribute in Gothenburg 2020 how amazing Dea + Helena sound when they sing together. They sang FADING LIKE A FLOWER at the concert and we were all blown away. So the basic idea for the vocals on PG Roxette’s take on NEM was to use that particular sound you get when you mix two very different voices and blend them. That’s what we did in the verses and in the outro. Dea + Helena share the duties. The choruses were mine to sing. It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to work with three distinctive voices in one song. It certainly appeals to my restless mind!
The programming was done primarily by Magnus + Clarence, then Christoffer came aboard and did some overdubs. His recent baby, an Ondes Martenot from 1928 came in handy. Jonas did his guitar parts in Stockholm and he sounded like he always does; out of this world.
It was an amazing journey from start to finish. Ronny Lahti, who worked many times on Roxette albums in the past, did some extraordinary mixes. He’s another master.
And hey, here’s some footage from the recording sessions filmed by Anders Roos: youtu.be/VyIK-Q8Ltt0
facebook.com/RealPerGessle,