Pop-Up Dynamo! is the debut studio album by Swedish pop band PG Roxette, released on 19 October 2022 by Elevator Entertainment and Parlophone. The band was formed by Roxette songwriter Per Gessle following the death of vocalist Marie Fredriksson in 2019. The album was recorded alongside several long-time Roxette contributors, including keyboardist and producer Clarence Öfwerman, bassist Magnus Börjeson, guitarists Jonas Isacsson and Christoffer Lundquist, and vocalists Helena Josefsson and Dea Norberg. The record also features vocals from Swedish singer Léon.
Five singles were released from the album: "The Loneliest Girl in the World", "Walking on Air", "My Chosen One", "Headphones On", and a Lost Boys remix of "The Craziest Thing". Several other releases were issued by the band during the album's promotion cycle, including the non-album single "Wish You the Best for Xmas", and the four track Incognito EP. The band also released a cover version of the Metallica song "Nothing Else Matters".
The album received generally positive reviews upon release, with reviews commending Gessle for continuing to record using the traditional Roxette sound. It was a commercial success as well, debuting at number two in Gessle's native Sweden, and charting in several other European territories.
Background and recording
Swedish pop music duo Roxette were formed in 1986 by songwriter Per Gessle and vocalist Marie Fredriksson. Fredriksson died on 9 December 2019; she had been diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2002. Gessle had written the majority of Roxette's songs, but said he would not continue recording under the Roxette name following Fredriksson's death, saying instead that he wanted to find a new way to "keep the legacy of Roxette alive. I've written almost every song Roxette has recorded over the years, and they mean the world to me." He said: "Replacing Marie is impossible, and that was never my intention. Our Roxette era was a fantasy come true that we got to experience together. I look forward to continuing this journey, but in a different way. If Marie were still with us, we would of course do it together."
Gessle created the band name PG Roxette, and chose vocalists Helena Josefsson and Dea Norberg to sing on Pop-Up Dynamo!. Both singers had provided vocals on Gessle's previous work, either on his solo material or as backing vocalists on Roxette's later discography. The album was recorded alongside several other long-time contributors to Roxette, including keyboardist and producer Clarence Öfwerman, bassist Magnus Börjeson, and guitarists Jonas Isacsson and Christoffer Lundquist. "My Chosen One" features vocals from Swedish singer Léon. Pop-Up Dynamo! is dedicated to both Fredrikson and Roxette drummer Per "Pelle" Alsing, who died in 2020.
Composition and style
"Walking on Air" was the first song Gessle wrote for Pop-Up Dynamo!, and was the template used to create the rest of the album. He sought to mix modern production techniques with the sound of previous Roxette albums Look Sharp! (1988) and Joyride (1991). The song was written at the request of the producers of Top Gun: Maverick, who asked him to compose a song for a scene in the film where a character is "dancing on a beach." He said the producers "never came back to me, so I kept the song for myself. I don't know if they didn't like it, or if they skipped that particular scene." Helena Josefsson sings lead vocals in the chorus, with overdubbed vocals by Dea Norberg.
Renowned for Sound described "Me and You and Everything In Between" as one of the album's highlights, and a possible single. The song was demoed by Gessle and Mats Persson in May 2020 at Tits & Ass Studio in Halmstad. Their demo was predominantly acoustic, but Clarence Öfwerman and Magnus Börjeson's production resulted in the song become more electronic; Gessle said their production made the song sound "like a hit single from a different era." "Headphones On" was written in March 2021 and was the last song composed for the album; it was written because Gessle felt the record needed another uptempo track. The track features a guitar solo by Roxette guitarist Jonas Isacsson, and the chorus features layered vocals from Gessle, Josefsson and Norberg. Co-producer Christoffer Lundquist was the vocal producer of the track.