She looks very cute (a fire red punk hairdo and make-up in bright shades) but at the same time a little tired. Frida talks about her solo career with self-confidence, even discussing her next album already, but when we carefully ask her what her thoughts are about an ABBA-reunion, for the first time her eyes start to glow. Frida would love to...
On her arrival at Schiphol Airport, Frida was met by a warm welcome by hundreds of fans, who even followed her to the Countdown-studios. Most of them were sitting on a wall near the barriers of the NOS-building, some of them even managed to get through to the holy place, the studio where Frida performed her new single ‘Shine’. They are waiting in the hall with an enormous bunch of flowers and try to catch a glimpse of the star that’s quietly eating a sandwich, amidst 5 representatives of the record company, Polar’s Görel Hanser and a Swedish bodyguard. Frida takes it all in with a smile, she remains calm, but above all friendly under this enormous attention. After lunch, the interview can commence. The door of the dressing room closes behind us and people of the record company are guarding the door. There won’t be an ABBA-reunion in the near future. Björn and Benny have worked on the musical Chess for the past two and a half years and in October they will go on tour, together with the London Symphony Orchestra and a big choir. “There will be around 200 people on stage,” Frida says. Agnetha has started recordings for her next solo album as well, so the schedules of the four ABBA-members are fully booked at the moment.“I would love to record an album again with the four of us,” Frida says from the bottom of her heart. “It would be very exciting to do this, especially since we’ve all learned so much from our solo projects. It would also be a very surprising album, totally different from the previous ABBA-albums.” Frida is completely in favour of recording another album with ABBA, but she doesn’t know exactly how the others feel about it. “Actually, I rarely meet Björn and Benny these days,” she says in a melancholic voice. “They live in Stockholm and I live in London, and the only time we ever see each other is when they are in London, or I am in Stockholm. But when we meet, we do fantasize about a new ABBA-album, how awesome that would be. But it doesn’t go any further, because there are no definite plans yet.”
Why did you move to London?
“In London, I can at least walk the streets in peace,” Frida thinks. “It's such a huge city. They don’t even raise an eyebrow when a famous person walks by. Here I can lead a quiet and anonymous life. In Stockholm I was hounded by journalists constantly. I had the feeling I was suffocating. They followed me everywhere. When I went out for a cosy dinner in a restaurant, it would be in headlines all over the newspapers the next day. I couldn’t stand it any longer.”
Are you a homely type of person?
“Yes,” the singer confesses. “I don’t go out that often. I prefer to invite people to my home for a cosy dinner. I love to cook. Because I’m a vegetarian myself, I cook fresh vegetables and fish, but I’m also very fond of Italian food, pastas and pizzas, but without meat. I do know a lot of people from the music business, but I don’t go to parties. I live a very healthy life. I don’t smoke, don’t drink, apart from a glass of champagne every now and then, I don’t eat meat, and I jog every morning in the park. That way I keep in shape.”
Are you sufficiently in shape to tour with a band in order to promote your album?
“Actually, I’m a little bit afraid of that,” Frida concludes. “Touring is so very hard, and the longer you’re away from it, the harder it gets to get into it again. At the moment I’m not ready for that. Besides, I have an enormous urge to make records. I know exactly what I want and in February we’re going to record the next album already. I feel stronger than ever, inspired by the sound of the eighties. I just can’t help myself.”
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