If you’ve been longing for M2M since the day they went away back in 2002, you weren’t the only ones. Which explains the overwhelming joy expressed by many millennials around the world when the beloved Norwegian pop duo unveiled their surprise reunion last year, fittingly, on “September 22nd, Sunday, 25 after 9".
Although they’ve been busy with their own successful solo careers since, we’re ecstatic to see Marit Larsen and Marion Ravn come back together after a long 22 year absence. Soon after that announcement, the ‘Don't Say You Love Me’ and ‘Pretty Boy’ hitmakers also revealed that they’d be hitting the road for The Better Endings 2025 tour!
Just ahead of their upcoming highly anticipated concert in Singapore at The Star Theatre on 12 May, we caught up with Marit and Marion to learn more about their comeback, growth, enduring popularity in Southeast Asia and the 25th anniversary of their acclaimed debut album Shades of Purple.
Your reunion last year came as a surprise to many fans. After 22 years apart, what prompted you both to get back together?
Marion: Destiny! (Laughs) We ran into each other in April of last year! We were in a coffee shop early in the morning because my car had a flat tyre. So I was only in the coffee shop because of this. There was nobody there, and then suddenly Marit walks in!
Marit: We hadn’t really seen each other in over 20 years at that point.
Marion: It felt meant to be. It was the universe that brought us together. We were like okay, we have to have a cup of coffee and talk. We talked for like four or five hours… and then we were like, “Yeah, let's do this”.
Marit: At the end of the conversation, we looked at the numbers for how many people were still listening to M2M out of curiosity. And it was over a million people, every month! There were so many people still keepings our songs alive. We’ve had long solo careers but we haven’t done anything together in two decades. So we had to do this.
Marion: And when we did decide to do it, we found that September 22nd was on a Sunday that year! Which also felt very meant to be.
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Obviously a lot has changed since M2M was last active. Musically, how have you grown and matured since then?
Marion: We’ve both grown but somehow we still fit together, even though we’ve been solo artists for so long. Our voices still go together and our playing still goes together. Now that we’re putting together the setlist for the tour, we’re adding some of our solo songs into the show, and they actually fit! Even our music as solo artists fit together.
Marit: We’re still connected! It’s also curious because our voices have obviously changed since we’re grown-ups now, but the blend is still so magical. We spent all last week rehearsing, and it felt so good to sing together again, revisiting these songs that we wrote so many years ago.
There’s something so pure about those first years of songwriting. You’re writing in a different way I think, so unafraid. You’re writing about your first experiences - first love, first heartbreak, all of that. So reconnecting with the person I had all those first experiences with again, it feels like a blessing.
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Were there any M2M songs that you had to re-learn how to play?
Marion: (Laughs) I remember all the melodies and lyrics. But the chords on the guitar and the piano and stuff, yeah we had to re-learn. But shockingly, I do remember a lot of it.
Marit: Muscle memory! But the thing is, even though we were extremely busy during the M2M years, we never actually played many concerts. We mostly did showcases, signings and smaller things - though not really full concerts.
But last week, we did 16 of these songs back to back at a concert and it’s like looking through a photo album and remembering. The most magical thing about music is that it’s like a time capsule. You hear something or you play something, and it takes you straight back to where you were.
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Speaking of memory, this year marks the 25th anniversary of Shades of Purple. What are your fondest memories of making that album?
Marion: Ohhhh. Wow, that’s a good question. Umm… I think what I remember is that we were travelling around a lot while writing these songs. We were becoming songwriters.
Marit: And it felt like everything was possible!
Marion: That was the best thing. It was our dream come true, to write songs and make our own album.
Marit: We were so young but it felt like we had dreamed of this our whole lives. (Laughs)
Marion: And of course, the way people loved the album so much. Seeing them sing along to the songs, especially in Asia. It was so well received there, and so quickly too.
Marit: Yeah, we had no idea! We knew what our intentions were with the songs, we knew that we were having fun. But you never know how the songs will be received.
Marion: There are songs that people still sing along and listen to 25 years later, it’s amazing!
I initially discovered M2M through your debut single, which was attached to the Pokemon movie. And that OST feature must have been a big boost. But in hindsight, the song and the movie were a weird fit, no?
Marit: We didn't understand it either! (Laughs)
Marion: We were girls so we weren't into Pokemon…
Marit: Pokemon wasn’t even in Norway yet!
Marion: I guess it was just the record company that put the song on the movie, but it was still cool. I mean, we got you as a fan because of it! (Laughs) And maybe that’s how we got more boys as well.
I was truly a fan. 25 years ago, I skipped school to watch an M2M showcase in Singapore at a place called Lido Amphitheatre...
Marit: WHAT!?
And in 2005, I caught Marion’s solo showcase at a venue called Barnone…
Marion: Wow! (Laughs)
It's been a long time but do either of you have any memories of your past trips to Singapore?
Marion: Oh we were working so much! We only saw hotel rooms and radio stations. We didn't really get to see the places we visited. We don’t really remember anything on those past trips because we never really saw anything.
But now with the tour, yes we want to have a concert, but we want to also experience the places we go to. We don’t want to be so busy. Singapore’s actually the last stop of the tour, so I’m staying there for a while. Going on a little vacation! So I’ll get to see more of the country then!
You both were, and continue to be, immensely popular in Southeast Asia. What do you attribute that to? And do you have any special message to your fans in the region ahead of your upcoming concerts here?
Marion: We don’t know why, but we’re very grateful and very happy! We can’t wait to come and finally have a big M2M concert there and sing along with our fans.
Marit: That’s why we planned this whole year, really. We want to celebrate our connection with our fans in Asia. Thank you to our fans for keeping our songs alive, and thank you for waiting! I hope we’ll make it worth your while.
Finally, is this reunion just for the tour? Or are you planning to write new music together?
Marion: We don’t know yet… for now we just want to play concerts and have fun. We’ll see if it inspires us to do something more. Anything is possible!
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