HALMSTAD - Roxette is coming out soon with two compilation albums, but Per Gessle is thinking of releasing a solo album too.

  "I would like to do something in Swedish again, I havent done it for a while. There´s something 'cooking' - something getting ready," he said in an interview published in Swedish newspapers today.

  The article states that Gessle has worked hard this summer. He has worked a lot in the studio, to write songs and record them - not only for Roxette, but also for other artists and himself.

  "I have written for both Swedish and foreign artists. I can´t say anything else now, but I think you will hear them soon, " he said with a laugh.

  Some years ago he released a solo album in English, the report continues, but this time he wants to write it in Swedish, and release it in Sweden.

  "I'm a bit tired of all the German TV shows," as he expresses it.

  Musically, the album should sound like "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," his version of the Ramones classic for the tribute album that was released some months ago.

  "It´s a great style of mine and I would like to go on working with it with a small band. Some of the songs I have written for Roxette are in that style. Power pop like 'Sleeping in My Car,' but a bit more 'alive' or 'pushing.'

  "The record company was nagging about a compilation album. We have so many songs and have been aroud for so long that we thought it would be nice to
separate the slow from the fast songs," explains Gessle.

  "I have written so many songs, and if we had
thought about it - organised it a bit - we could have really released a new album instead.

  "I think it's funny, since in the pop business there are many artists who come and go. It´s proof of a kind of 'substance' to be able to do such an album and
besides be able to divide the two albums. It's more like knocking on the door to say 'Hello, don't forget that we're still here.'"

• Metro article (In Swedish - PDF format - see page 17)
• Hallandsposten article (In Swedish)