Marie Fredriksson will release her new single “Kom vila hos mig” (“Come Rest With Me”) September 25 in Sweden. Later in November the new album Nu (Now) will be released. “I’ve really missed making a Swedish album. Time goes so fast and since I got ill I haven’t been able to do more. Since then Roxette has come inbetween and that has taken a lot of room. But now we’re here. I’m incredibly proud of this record” Marie says with clear satisfaction to TT. “I’m so damn grateful!”

Most of the songs on the new album have been written by Marie’s husband Micke, but she has also collaborated with her friend Per Gessle, and a handful of carefully selected lyrics writers (Kenneth Gärdestad, Ulf Sagerström, Johan Kinde and Uno Svenningsson.) “We have been writing this album for six years. Unfortuntaly I’ve only contributed one song, I wish I could have written more, but it takes so long for me these days, because of my illness. When Micke wrote “Kom vila hos mig” I felt ‘finally some action.’ So it was natural to start with that.

Working with her husband, Micke Bolyos, has been a great help for Marie during her ordeal. Even when her language disappeared, the music and the words were there, inside. To be a singer and lose her way to speak she describes as terrible. “It was a great sorrow. But I was so afraid because I didn’t know what would happen with everything. Inside me I felt ‘I will take care of this, I don’t have time to die yet.’ I said that a lot, even though the odds were bad.

Today the tempo is slower. There’s no place for stress in Marie’s life. She fills here days with music and art and claims she’s become artistically much sharper than before. “The voice is different. It’s deeper and a little heavier. Really I think it’s just gotten better. More action, better expression” she says and adds silently “I’m definitely not afraid of anything anymore.” Ahead of herself Marie has many big projects. She wants to write a book about her life, but won’t tell us more than that she’s found a co-writer. And without any details, she admits that she and Per are working on new Roxette material. But first the solo album and what she misses the most:

“I just want to go out on the road and play, meet people. Next year, hopefully.