Friday, 3 June 2022
Per Gessle begins a new era of Roxette with the debut single The Loneliest Girl in the World and a new album follows in September.
During their long history together, Roxette delivered a collection of unforgettable pop and rock classics such as “It Must Have Been Love”, “Listen to Your Heart”, “Fading Like a Flower”, “The Look”, “Dressed for Success” and “Joyride”. While climbing the charts around the world, Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle sold over 80 million albums and had, among other things, four American Billboard #1 singles. They helped define the pop scene of the 80s and 90s with the help of songs that are still discovered and loved today. This is confirmed by the fact that the group has 8,5 million listeners per month on Spotify.
Roxette’s story came to a tragic end in 2019, when Marie passed away. In the following years, Per wavered back and forth about what he would do next. Marie is irreplaceable, but he also wanted to pay tribute to her life and the musical treasure she left behind with the fans who made their journey to what it has been. He finally chose to reunite Roxette’s classic live band – Jonas Isacsson, Clarence Öfwerman, Magnus Börjeson Christoffer Lundquist and the background singers Helena Josefsson and Dea Norberg.
This new era begins with PG Roxette releasing their debut single, The Loneliest Girl in the World along with the song’s official video. The song is the first taster from the upcoming album “Pop-Up Dynamo!”, which follows in September.
The Loneliest Girl in the World feels like a natural next step for Per Gessle. With its exuberant energy, strong melody and the group’s addictive “don’t bore us, get to the chorus” attitude, it’s a song that would sit comfortably anywhere in the group’s juicy back catalog. Whether you see it as the most poppy rock, or pop with a bit of a rock edge, you can’t miss that it’s Roxette. Says Per:
I had a lot of fun when we made these recordings. I was really trying to go back to the way I wrote in early Roxette and it was a lot of fun. Some of these songs are among the best I’ve ever written and working with all my Roxette friends again was great. We stick together like glue.
So how did PG Roxette come about? Why Per felt the need for a return is best described by himself:
Since the 80s my whole life has revolved around Roxette and to this day that is what inspires me the most. There are millions of people out there who still love the band so for me it’s a matter of course to keep our music alive. At first I wasn’t sure which way I would go, but over time it became clear that I wanted to continue this fantastic “joyride”. I want to keep Roxette’s legacy alive.
I’ve written almost every song that Roxette has recorded and they mean a lot to me. When I started writing, the ambition was to try to create a sibling to Look Sharp! and Joyride – and that’s exactly how it sounds. I wanted to make a modern production, but based on the well-known Roxette sound.
It’s impossible to replace Marie and that has never been my intention either. It was an era and a fantastic dream we got to share together. But it feels exciting to be able to continue this journey, albeit in a different way. Had Marie still been alive, we would of course have done this together. I feel this is the right decision. I’m proud of everything Roxette has done and I love working with these people.
Roxette’s fantastic song treasure will also be celebrated with a newly written musical, with a planned premiere in the autumn of 2024 at Malmö Opera. The musical is based on the best-selling author Jane Fallon’s novel “Got You Back”.
