Roxette. Let’s just say that the name means different things to different people.

For some it means a phenomenon. Swedish pop export. Statistics and money. A monument with sales of 38 million albums and 15 million singles around the world to its merit. Four #1-singles in the USA 1989–91. Numerous hits in the rest of the world. Two world tours 1991–95. Hit albums like “Pearls of Passion” (1986), “Look Sharp!” (1988), “Joyride” (1991), “Tourism” (1992) and “Crash! Boom! Bang!” (1994) – not forgetting the equally successful singles collection “Don’t Bore Us – Get To The Chorus!” (1995) and the Spanish-sung smash “Baladas en Español” (1996).

For others – like millions of fans all over the world – Roxette means Per and Marie. Gessle and Fredriksson. Two voices. Two hard working and determined talents, united by a stubborn vision to reach out with their own warm and melodic brand of pop music. And who did it.

But that’s history. Today Roxette means 1999, fourteen new songs and the brilliant new album “Have A Nice Day”. Some say it’s the strongest album Roxette has ever done. Some say it contains five singles. Some say it captures everything you ever liked about this band, but in a new and captivating way.

Per and Marie has something to say, too. Hang on.

Does the world really need Roxette today?

Marie Fredriksson: Absolutely. More than ever.

Per Gessle: Good answer. But why?

Marie: Because people are dying for songs with good melodies. And Roxette has always been rooted in the melodic tradition.

Per: Hmm… interesting. Maybe you’re right. When Aerosmith topped the US singles chart with “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” last year, it was the first rock song to top the US chart since Mr Big in 1992. Inbetween everything was about dance and hip hop. So maybe that’s a good sign for song-oriented pop artists.

Marie: Yeah, but Roxette has never really been trendy.

Per: No, we’ve always surfed beside the big waves. I mean, there was a lot of dance and hip hop happening when we hit it big in 1989 too. And Guns ’n Roses. Not to mention Nirvana and the whole grunge-enchilada.

Marie: So the answer might be that the world needs Roxette…

Per: …even if it’s never aware of it.

It’s been five years since “Crash! Boom! Bang!”. Is this a comeback?

Per: A comeback? No. I don’t like that hat.

Marie: I didn’t know you had a comeback-hat.

Per: I did, but I lost it. OK, it’s five years since “Crash! Boom! Bang!”, our last album with all new songs. But we needed to take some time off. We toured in 1994–95. In 1995 we released a singles collection – “Don’t Bore Us – Get To The Chorus” – including three new singles. It sold four million records and had a life well into 1996. And then the “Baladas en Espanol” album came, which sold a million albums in Spain, Argentina and Brazil in 1996–97. I made a solo album in 1997 and “Have A Nice Day” took the better part of 1998 to write and record.

Marie: But we needed a break. We worked almost non-stop with Roxette from 1988 until 1995.

Per: Seven years… almost as long as Abba and Beatles were active.

Marie: And then the kids came. I think it was necessary to take time off and be with the kids when they were small. If we hadn’t done that, I don’t think we would have made such a strong album. So it was a healthy pause.

Per: Let’s just say we took a long lunch.

Will “Have A Nice Day” top the charts?

Marie: Oh, we’re talking about charts again…

Per: If you’ve got the ambition to be Top 5 in the world forever, expecting to always reach those gigantic sales, you’ll be in trouble sooner or later. The music business doesn’t work that way, not even for U2. You can’t get stuck with a pressure to repeat former successes. The only thing you can do is to develop what you’re good at, to keep your music fresh and exciting.

Marie: I think this album is inspired. Whether it will top the charts is anybody’s guess.

Per: It’s like predicting the dollar rate or if Ericsson stocks will go up or down.

Marie: At the end of the day it’s the music that counts. That’s the only thing we can influence.

Describe “Have A Nice Day”.

Per: It’s like a Ferrari. An updated classic.

Marie: Confident. Bold. Immediate.

Per: Less suitable for air-guitar heroes maybe…

Marie: …but uplifting. Very positive.

Your previous albums have been chock full of hits. To cut a long story short: are there any hits on this one too?

Marie: Are there any hits on “Have A Nice Day”?

Per: Did Ringo play drums with The Beatles?

Marie: I’d say there are a few. “I Wish I Could Fly” is the first single. And after that… well, “Anyone” and “Crush On You”.

Per: “Anyone”. And “Stars”. And “Salvation”. I like “Crush On You” as well. But all the songs are written and produced to make it as singles, not least Marie’s songs. Which leads to a sort of internal competition that could be quite devastating. On most album’s you’ll find two or maybe three songs with memorable melodies, which makes it easier to stand out. Here it’s harder to pick a choice, which is both an advantage and a problem. So the best way to hear the album is probably song by song on the radio, in competition with a lot of different things.

You’re producing this album together with Clarence Öfwerman and Michael Ilbert. Isn’t it hard to be four producers on one album?

Per: Yeah, but if you’re a control freak that’s what you get.

Marie: It was tough recording this album. We’re different personalities and have different ways to work, which leads to arguments and conflicts. But thankfully we persevered and went all the way, coming up with a brilliant end result.

Per: There’s never been so much fighting during a Roxette recording. But then we’ve never made such a good album either.

Marie: Actually, in the beginning I never thought it would work. I thought we were going to have a serious fall out. At first you stand up and fight for your own ideas. But after a while you start to listen and see what happens if you back off a bit. And then you realise that it’s quite good. Not exactly as the thing you had in mind, but good. Different and exciting.

Per: Quality-wise the album grew better towards the end. I took too much control in the beginning, coming up with very advanced demos that I didn’t want to change. Which is almost like putting handcuffs on Clarence and Michael. “Let’s just cover this, don’t think for yourself”.

Marie: In that case you can just as well produce everything yourself.

Per: Exactly. I was probably subconciously trying to make sure that everything I liked about the demos stayed there. I mean, you make a song, you play it to people and get a good response – and then you leave it to another person for interpretation. Chances are quite big that a lot of the original spirit is going to disappear. And the only way to prevent that is by being a part of the process yourself. So you end up sitting there, saying “don’t do this, keep that, keep the vocals from the demo, it’s good as it is” – you hear, it’s like begging for conflicts.

Marie: I had made a demo of “Beautiful Things” – but the end result is very different from that. I’m glad I listened.

Per: Finally I also let go of this control mania. “Think freely, change the intros if you want… or let’s discuss it, at least”. Which meant that a lot of inspired things started to happen, because we used everybody’s creative input.

Are you going to tour on this album?

Marie: We’ll see. It would be great fun. But the album has to happen. If we’re going, we’d like to go in a big way.

Per: It’ll be the biggest thing since Spinal Tap.