Efter stormen - Marie Fredriksson

I discovered Marie Fredriksson's solo material after she joined Per Gessle and started the Roxette phenomenon. During the Nineties they were always on the radio with their pop songs, sometimes great, sometimes inane. But what Marie did as a solo artist was much more interesting. Certainly her albums 'Den standiga resan' and 'I En Tid Som Vår' are among my alltime favourite albums by any artist.

'Efter stormen' was taken from an earlier album of the same name, released just after Roxette had started, in 1987. The title track is a decent pop track although the rest of the album never really grabbed me. 'Efter stormen' was Marie's first top 10 hit in Sweden, peaking at number 7. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6915
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 March 2023
Tracks: 'Efter stormen' / 'Varmt och djupt'

Sparvöga - Marie Fredriksson

'Sparvöga' is a 1989 single by Swedish artist Marie Fredriksson. It was written for the Swedish TV series 'Sparvöga', based on Ann-Charlotte Alverfors's book of the same name. The word literally means 'sparrow-eye', but it could be translated to the English word 'hawkeye', as it describes particularly sharp human eyes.

When the single was released in March 1989, it peaked at number 6 in the Swedish singles chart. It was Fredriksson's biggest hit until 2008's 'Där du andas'. 'Sparvöga' was added as a bonus track on the re-release of Marie Fredriksson's 1992 album 'Den ständiga resan' and quickly became one of my favourite tracks by her. Finding this single was a great surprise.

My collection: 7" single no. 4216
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009
Cost: 6 euro
Tracks: 'Sparvöga' / 'Sparvöga (instrumental version)'

Så länge det lyser mittemot - Marie Fredriksson

Marie Fredriksson was famous in Sweden even before she joined the band Roxette, that would take her around the world. Her solo work is sometimes just as poppy, but also contains a darker, more melancholic side that appeals to me a lot.

I got to hear 'Så länge det lyser mittemot' via MTV Europe in 1992, soon after it was released in Sweden. I wasn't too impressed by this track at first, mostly because the video didn't appeal to me. Then, a year later, I spotted Marie's cd 'Den standiga resan' in a record shop in Amsterdam at a discount price. The booklet of this cd was beautiful, and because of that I decided to buy this cd and try it out. I fell in love with the album. It was only in 2001 when I bought this vinyl single. I've come to like this track and the thought of owning this single was too attractive to deny. It's the only Marie Fredriksson track that I have on vinyl - everything else I have on cd now.

My collection: 7" single no. 3317

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, March 24, 2001

Cost: 10 guilders

Tracks: 'Så länge det lyser mittemot' / 'Den där novemberdan'

Download: here