Pop duo M2M on revisiting their music and friendship after 20 years: 'Something so beautiful and raw'

Marion Elise Ravn, better known as her stage name Marion Raven, and Marit Elisabeth Larsen unknowingly lived out the viral “meeting your younger self for coffee” trend before it even existed.

The Norwegian singer-songwriters from M2M, a defining duo in early 2000s pop, ran into each other in a cafe in Oslo, Norway in April 2024. After more than 20 years of scant contact, the chance encounter rekindled a connection that had once shaped not just their youth – but an entire generation.

M2M’s distinctive sound was marked by breathy, delicate vocals and feathery harmonies. Their debut album Shades Of Purple, released in 2000, achieved multi-platinum success – thanks in part to its lead single Don’t Say You Love Me, which featured on the soundtrack of the first Pokemon movie, catapulting the band to global recognition.

When their follow-up album The Big Room did not perform well enough, they disbanded in 2002. And up till their serendipitous meeting last year, there were no plans for a reunion.

Larsen and Raven, now mums in their early 40s, still get goosebumps recalling the turning point, awestruck by how life has unravelled since then.

“It was like a magnetic field. It felt like – and we don’t really believe in any of that – it was almost rigged,” Larsen shared over Zoom with CNA Lifestyle.

“Yeah, it felt very meant to be. There was nobody else in the coffee shop. It was just the two of us,” added Raven.

INTENTIONALLY TIMING THE REUNION TO THEIR LYRICS

At the time, while reminiscing on their brief but impactful partnership, they realised there were still over a million people who listened to M2M every month on Spotify – proof that their songs had been kept “alive after all that time”. The numbers piqued their curiosity.

“We really wanted to see what happened if we sent a spark out on the internet, and so we did last year. We sent out a little clip of the song The Day You Went Away, recorded in Marion’s living room – and it (caught) fire,” recalled Larsen.

Although the video had been filmed months prior to its release on Sep 22, 2024, Raven recalled pointing out that the date would fall on a Sunday that year – a reference to the line “I remember, date and time, September 22nd, Sunday, 25 after nine” in The Day You Went Away.

The coincidence only deepened their sense that the reunion was meant to be, and the video eventually went live on Sep 22, 2024, at 9.25am in Oslo.

“We were so afraid that the secret was going to come out. I didn’t tell anybody, only my boyfriend and parents. I didn’t even tell my best friend because we wanted it to be a surprise on exactly that day,” she said.

With their friendship having been “always at the core of what we were doing”, keeping their comeback a secret from the world only brought them closer, added Larsen.

And their patience paid off. Fans reacted with fervour on social media, flooding the comments with memories of M2M’s music, their nostalgia mirroring the band’s own trip down memory lane.

“While we were rediscovering our friendship, it seemed like people were also doing the same thing,” noted Larsen.

“When it sparked so much joy, it felt like a no-brainer that we should absolutely go back on tour.”

“WE WANTED TO START IN ASIA”

M2M will kick off The Better Endings Tour 2025 in Indonesia and Malaysia in April, followed by Philippines and Thailand in May. Singapore’s concert on May 12 will be their final stop in Asia on this leg of the tour.

“We said that if we were doing a tour, we wanted to start in Asia, because it was in Asia that we have the best memories,” said Raven.

She admitted, however, that they initially planned a show for around 900 people in Singapore but switched to a larger venue with a seating capacity of 5,000 after overwhelming interest from fans.

It was a “nice surprise”, they mused, grateful yet genuinely puzzled about the secret to their enduring appeal in Asia.

“Some magic found (its) place there, I think maybe because M2M became so big so quickly there. Like you were saying, it was part of your childhood. I think music or cultural memories that you have from that early in life become … a special connection,” Larsen suggested.

Nostalgia aside, one may argue evergreen bands also enjoy lasting success in Southeast Asia due to our indisputable obsession with karaoke and their KTV-friendly songs. But M2M's appeal goes beyond easy singalongs.

Their unpolished sincerity, both in lyrics and melody, makes each song feel like a diary entry rather than saccharine bubblegum pop.

Listening to their music is meeting your younger self, the version of you untouched by the weight of adulthood – admittedly a regular occurrence for Larsen and Raven nowadays.

A “FEARLESS” KIND OF SONGWRITING

Preparation for their upcoming reunion tour doesn't just involve returning to songs they wrote as teenagers but revisiting that pivotal period in their lives after having come into their own music careers as adults.

“There’s something so pure about that period. You’re not thinking about the listener yet. You’re just thinking about the truth you want to convey and the story you want to tell. And we kind of miss the purity. It’s almost like the first love; it’s a fearless kind of songwriting,” said Larsen, 42 this year.

“We were that young and we were writing these amazing lyrics, and we were so unafraid, which is also part of being a teenager … There was something so beautiful and raw about that M2M writing.”

Raven remembered crying the first time they played The Day You Went Away live with the band in rehearsal. “There’s something special with that song. So that was very emotional,” said the 41-year-old.

“The songs take you back to the first heartbreak … It’s kind of nice that we’re on stage thinking about maybe that boy (we) were in love with when (we) were 16, and the people in the audience can do the same, because they listened to the songs at the time when they were in love.”

They plan to embrace the nostalgia on tour, as they take turns playing the piano and guitar on stage alongside a full band.

“(Each song is) going to sound pretty similar to how it was. Of course, we have more grown-up voices now, but we want it to be a big celebration of the music and sing along with the audience,” said Raven.

“I also feel like we’ve lived so much (of) life since we sang together last, but our voices still blend so well together. There’s some poetry in that … It feels like there are elements of our voices that are just like a very definite sound,” Larsen added.

Despite visiting Asia, including Singapore, for media interviews at the peak of M2M's popularity, they never had a chance to hold a major concert before disbanding.

Better Endings will be their first opportunity to perform their classics for a tour-sized audience.

“We spent all last week rehearsing with the band – a very intense week – and we could feel so many emotions in the room. We were five, six people in that room, just trying to imagine what the energy is going to be like when we can all share that experience together,” said Larsen.

“Singapore is going to be the last show on that first leg, and I’m looking forward to standing there and feeling (the sense of) ‘I wonder where we’ll be.’ I think we’ll be so happy.”

After all, M2M isn’t just returning to the stage. They’re coming home to their relationship with each other, the very essence of what made M2M – though it turns out, they haven’t strayed far.

“I think that’s so beautiful now to see, like we’re really back at the core of what this is all about,” Larsen reflected.

If she could meet their younger selves, she would remind them not to forget to have fun and to pursue music “for the reasons that you came into it”.

Raven, too, had similar advice: “Remember the most important thing is the friendship. Always talk to each other about everything and don’t listen to all the grown-ups and the music business around you. Keep that outside and keep the friendship safe.”

Come April and May this year, as many fans in Southeast Asia meet their younger selves at an M2M concert, Larsen and Raven will do the same.

Though they’ve lived many lives since the band's heyday, when they face their younger selves on stage after way more than three months and a hundred days, they may find that in some ways, everything has changed – and in others, nothing at all.