STOCKHOLM - Per never ceases to surprise his fans. To promote the Son of a Plumber album release in German-speaking countries, he has recorded five tracks - in German! The first one is a German translation of "Jo-Anna Says," then there's a translation of "Måla mitt minne" which was released by Freddie Wadling last year. The other three songs are previously unreleased.

  "Germany has always been a very strong area for Roxette. We have many loyal fans there and in the neighboring countries. This EP is like a gift to them," says Per. "Most of the new songs were originally written and recorded as demos available for other artists to record. Some are several years old actually. Late last year, when we were having negotiations with the German EMI about SOAP, someone there proposed recording songs in German."

  Per says that he hesitated at first, if only for the fact that he's never studied any German. "After Roxette had made 'Baladas en Español', we were asked to do a similar thing in German. It didn't feel quite right back then and we didn't really have the time. I'm easier to get along with these days (he laughs) and they found me this great translator, Dieter Lechner." The songs were recorded in Christoffer Lundquist's studio between the tight promo tour schedule in March. The demos were originally recorded in 2002 and 2003, except "Manchmal denke ich nur an dich" which is a ballad from 1996, then known as "Only When I Dream". The Swedish title of "In diesem Augenblick" is "Måla mitt minne."

  The EP will be released as a bonus disc in a special 3-CD limited edition version of "Son of a Plumber". The EP will apparently be also available as a separate release, at least on iTunes.

  The songs to be released are: (English translations within brackets)

1. "Jo-Anna sagt" ("Jo-Anna Says")
2. "In diesem Augenblick" ("At This Very Moment")
3. "Vorbei" ("It's Over")
4. "Manchmal denke ich nur an dich" ("Sometimes I Only Think Of You")
5. "Zwischen 3 & 8 [esse ich kein Frühstück]" ("Between 3 & 8 [I Don't Eat Breakfast]")

EDITOR'S NOTE: This too was a part of our little April Fool's Day joke. We're glad everyone (almost everyone?) enjoyed them. – LEO