A plus

Nearly ten years after her last album, and a staggering 27 years since she released an elpee of original material, Agnetha Fältskog breaks her long silence with "A", her fifth English language.



She still looks gorgeous! A bit too much photoshop on the sleeve. Still, her beauty radiates and her voice melts my heart. The album was produced by Jörgen Elofsson who has worked with Britney Spears, Celine Dion and Westlife. It also feature a duet with UK "X Factor" man of the moment and Take That tunesmith Gary Barlow.

The first single to be plucked from the album is "When You Really Loved Someone", a sumptuous ballad with sweeping strings and soaring chorus.



A video has been lensed for it which features Agnetha singing on the stage at Ulriksdals Palace in Stockholm. Her performance is intercut with flashbacks of an actress, playing a young Agnetha, and her love interest. Scenes of unabashed teenage love and its ensuing drama set the scene for Agnetha's memories.



"When You Really Loved Someone" is available from all fine digital retailers worldwide with the exception of Germany which decided to release "The One Who Loves You Now".



A little advice to interviews during Agnetha's promotion activities. Please don't ask her about an ABBA reunion. The answer hasn't changed.

Swedish Christmas spectacular

What do you do when you've made a gazillion dollars as one of the biggest songwriting teams of all time? For Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, the bearded half of ABBA, you write a Christmas tune and torture the staff of the posh hotel you own in the heart of Stockholm by having them sing it for you. Then you further embarrass them by making a little video.



It's not a patch on "The Winner Takes It All"! I guess the guys have a lot of time on their hands. Who am I to question their business acumen? After all, ABBA are one of the progenitors of the "band as brand" belief.

I've been to Hotel Rival. It's a lovely, boutique hotel in the heart of Södermalm, the southern island of Stockholm. Numerous restaurants and cafes are dotted around that part of the city. I've been to most of the eateries in that part of town having spent a lot of time in the many studios which are tucked away in the alleys and basements all around that area of the mighty, Swedish capital.

Enough idle chat. Enjoy the jolly meriment provided by the men of ABBA. Merry Christmas, kittens! May all your days be filled with glitter and kisses!

nothing takes the place of lycra

May 31 will see the latest in a long line of deluxe reissues from ABBA. "Voulez-Vous", their sixth studio album, is their glitterball moment despite hits like "Does Your Mother Know", "I Have A Dream" and "Chiquitita" dropped between slabs of zippy disco baubles like "Angeleyes", "If It Wasn't For The Nights" (which should have been a single) and the title track.

"Voulez-Vous" was the moment my obsession with ABBA shifted into overdrive. The previous two albums, "The Album" and "Arrival", locked me in as an FFL (fan for life). "Super Trouper" and "The Visitors" lifted them into legendary status at a time when the world wanted to throw them under a bus.

As a songwriter, I dropped ABBA as an influence years before it was chic to do so. I was always committed to, inspired by and in awe of their superior song craft. Time wags its index finger knowingly to those who didn't stick by the Swedish foursome in their heyday and cite them as major influences today.

Unfortunately, the deluxified edition of "Voulez-Vous" doesn't include any unreleased tracks. It has all be available before across multiple reissues and compilations. However, the DVD features several, long forgotten, previously televised gems seemingly unearthed from a time capsule buried deep in the Swedish wilderness. It's all about having a pristine copy of "ABBA In Switzerland" which I can view at my leisure anytime I want.

Here's a handy preview.



I had a serious thing for Benny. Just sayin'. Excuse me. I need a private moment.