The Unthinkable

---

By Mark SavageBBC Music Correspondent

Abba 's Agnetha Fältskog has revealed her first new music in 10 Years , a solo song called Where Do We Go From Here ?

The Star says she was was lured back to The studio by producer Jörgen Elofsson , who oversaw her 2013 album, A.

" He played me The demo, and The demo was very good, " The Swedish star, 73, told The Bbc in an exclusive interview.

" Originally, it was another girl singing and I said, 'I don't know if I can do this'. But I did - and it came Out very Well , I think. "

A summery slice of pop, The Song finds Agnetha at a familiar crossroads in a relationship, with lyrics asking: " What if you could be The One I Remember When I'm old and grey and Looking Back at life? "

The Track , which, is The First release (and only new song) from The Singer 's forthcoming album, A+.

Revisited and remixed

The project is built on The Foundations of The dignified, orchestrated ballads of her previous album -only This Time , they have been radically overhauled to create sleek, radio-friendly Pop Anthems .

" I Heard one of The old songs on The radio and I started to think, what would happen if you would remix and do another version of The Album ? " She Said .

" Not because you don't like [The original], But because it has been 10 Years , and what can you do with it? "

She took The idea to Elofsson, who has also written for Britney Spears , Celine Dion and Kelly Clarkson .

" She mentioned it in a very quick way, But I thought, yes, That 's interesting, " he recalled.

To test The concept, he stripped The Album track Back On Your Radio down to its Bare Essentials , and rebuilt it around a syncopated dembow beat and dreamy Balearic synths.

" We started to listen and I just felt, oh, this is incredible. How can Jörgen do this with My Voice ? " said Agnetha. " It's The same singing, so I don't know how he's done it. It's like The Song has new clothes. "

The discopop vibe persists throughout The reimagined album, which floats along on an echoey, nostalgic haze.

It's an approach That will be familiar to anyone who's heard The recent, dance-inspired overhaul of Sir Elton John 's catalogue.

" That Dua Lipa and Elton John song [Cold Heart ] is for sure an inspiration, " confirmed Elofsson. " I just loved The Way it's very powerful and pushing you forward, But The Beat is really relaxed. "

Nervous about new recording

As work progressed on The Remixes , Elofsson remembered Where Do We Go From Here ? - a song he'd written with young Swedish artist Kamilla Bayrak - and realised it would be a Perfect Fit .

" I mustered up some guts and played The Song to Agnetha and said, 'Wouldn't you just want to do this one?'" he recalls. " And she was like, 'Wow, what a great song'. "

Bright, catchy and melodically complex, The Track required The Star to reach notes she hadn't hit for years.

" I was a bit tense and a bit nervous because when you get older, your voice changes, " she explains, speaking in a rare interview.

" I think My Voice has dropped a little bit in tone or in pitch. So I maybe sound a little More . . not dark, But lower.

" But I still can express a Lot and I like to interpret The songs. And I did it, and I it came Out very Well . "

Elofsson says: " She doesn't really believe in herself from time to time. But when she does, That 's when It Comes Out - That voice from when she was 15 years old and started singing. "

This Year marks The 55th anniversary of Agnetha's debut single, (I Was So In Love).

Written while she worked as a switchboard operator, it topped The Swedish charts, launching a career That made her a star in her Home Country .

Unusually for The Time , she composed The majority of her own material.

" I have written songs for a long time, ever since I was 10, " she told Swedish teen magazine Bildjournalen in 1968.

" When I Get In The Mood , I light two Candles - preferably red ones - and sit down by The Piano . And Then I come up with a melody. Mostly a Melancholy one. "

But something bigger was on The horizon.

Sad songs

As The 'A' in Abba , Agnetha became one of The World 's most Famous Women , scoring 18 consecutive Top 10 hits in The UK alone, equalling a record set by The Beatles .

Through it all, Agnetha maintained her ear for The Melancholy - specialising in ballads of love gone wrong, from The Winner Takes It All and Chiquitita to Hasta Mañana And One Of Us.

" I did some of The happy songs as Well - Voulez-Vous and Happy New Year - But it was The sad songs That came Out strong, " she says now.

The Band first secured their place in pop history by winning The Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo in 1974 - Even after The UK gave them The dreaded " nil points".

" That was a mistake, I think, " laughs Agnetha. " But you English have been so kind to us in The Years after. "

By The Time of their global breakthrough, she and her bandmate/husband Björn Ulvaeus had already welcomed their first child, Linda.

Their second, Peter, was born three years later - But The couple were back at work within days, walking The Red Carpet for The premiere of Abba : The Movie .

'We were perfectionists'

Her devotion to The Children explains why a songwriter of her pedigree never achieved any writing credits on Abba 's albums.

" I didn't have any time, " " They [Benny and Bjorn] asked me a Lot - But when we were At Home , I just wanted to be with my children. "

That 's not to say she was passive in The studio. Agnetha often contributed ideas for arrangements and harmonic structure That , in her words, " brightened up The songs".

" We had a Lot of fun in The studio But those were long, long days, " she remembers.

" We didn't have The technology there is today, so we had to do everything over and over again, The old-fashioned way, and we didn't let it go until we were satisfied with it.

" We all were perfectionists in different ways. We never cheated. We did everything ourselves - The harmonies and The choirs and everything. Maybe That 's why it still sounds so classic. "

It's no secret That Agnetha longed to be At Home , preferring The regular schedule of studio work to life on The Road .

" I can't say it was easy, " she says. " And Bjorn is The Father , so we both had to leave The Children . But eventually we agreed That we cannot be away for too long, so we always went home after maybe two or three weeks and stayed there for a while. That helped us. "

Is there a part of her That wishes The 3D avatar technology of Abba Voyage - a concert using digital versions of The Band - had existed back in The 70S ?

" I don't see it That way because it [touring] had its charm, of course, to see all The People That really loved us - and still love us. But it was difficult Leaving Home . "

The Singer attended The Opening Night of Abba Voyage in London Last Year , sitting in The spaceship-sized auditorium for The duration of The Show , surrounded by adoring fans of all ages.

Watching a digital recreation of her younger self On Stage was definitely a " strange experience" she says.

" I still don't know how they did it, really, But The result is enormous.

" Mainly I thought, 'Oh, did I dance That Well ?' I've never been a master at dancing. We went by feeling - what we expressed was how we felt, there And Then . "

The Process of working on The virtual show led Abba back to The recording studio to make their first studio album for 40 Years , also called Voyage , earning The quartet their first ever Grammy nomination.

The Band 's 50th anniversary falls next Year when, coincidentally, The Eurovision Song Contest returns to Sweden.

Benny and Bjorn have already - But could there be a reunion in any other form?

" You never know anything about Abba - But I don't dare to Say Anything because I don't know what they are planning, " she says. " I'd rather be quiet. "

The conversation circles back to The solo album. Although The tracklist has been shuffled since 2013, The closing song remains The same: I Keep Them On The Floor Beside My Bed , a rare Agnetha original, which is steeped in sepia-toned reminiscences of a former flame.

It's a theme she has returned to across her career. Why does The topic of loss and searching for love still intrigue her?

" But I mean, every song you listen to is About Love , " she protests. " That 's The Way it is. It wouldn't be The same to sing about something political. "

But if her lyrical preoccupations have remained constant since That Bildjournalen interview 55 years ago, Elofsson's production does The Unthinkable - filtering her voice through vocoders and Auto-Tune and a myriad of contemporary digital effects.

" We've been very careful with those kinds of things, " he says. " We wanted to treat her vocals like they're holy, so when we use those things, it's More for effect.

" I remember The First Time I had her in The studio and she started doubling her voice [recording a second vocal track to add depth], I started crying because, you know, this is Abba . I was a child again, listening to The radio in The Kitchen . "

And One thing is Clear - The manipulated vocals would never have appeared without Agnetha's seal of approval.

" I'm very proud, " she smiles in agreement.

" I've listened to it so much That I can't remember what The original sounds like. "

Related Topics

Source of news: bbc.com