Monday 17 June 2013

Roxette 'Wish I Could Fly'

Chart Peak: 11

YouTube

Their first release since 1995, Roxette make a welcome return with ballad 'Wish I Could Fly'... One of Europe's most successful bands, over the last ten years Per and Marie have had 18 UK Top 30 hits and sold over 40 million albums worldwide!

Actually, they'd spent one week on the Top 75 with 'June Afternoon' in, er, July 1996, but it was their first major hit in a good while and their last new one here too, though they're still going and released an album as recently as 2011. Like their compatriots Ace Of Base, they seem to have abruptly lost their audience in English-speaking countries - both of them were pretty big in the US for Swedes, but by this point Roxette had lost their record deal over there and this single came out as a one-off without the album even getting a release there.

'Wish I Could Fly' benefits from a luxurious production, with those very 90s-sounding swooping string arrangements, and a big video with enough nudity to attract attention. Unfortunately the song doesn't really go anywhere, though it's a pleasant enough listen and one I like more now than at the time. The chorus oddly reminds me of a slowed-down version of Aswad's 'Shine' and it's not a million miles from their own 'It Must Have Been Love'.

Also appearing on: Now 15, 18, 20, 21, 23
Available on: Have A Nice Day

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