Hitkrant, 1981: Rush hour for ABBA

Just a few more weeks to go and the new ABBA-album will be on the fans’ turntables. After months of delay and uncertainty, it finally became public the past week that the Swedish foursome is very busy putting the finishing touches to the new song-material. Everything has to be finished before November 20, so this means rush hour for ABBA. Although Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Frida are working under high pressure, the atmosphere in the studio is friendly. After all the commotion surrounding the private lives of the ABBA-members, everything seems to be at peace again. What’s more: ABBA is now a closer unit than ever before and the collaboration is going so well, that for the time being, breaking up is out of the question.

The past few months have been horrible for the writers-duo Benny and Björn. For the album, initially to be released in May, not a single note had been put on paper by August. The twosome traveled to a far-off, sunny island to gather inspiration. They partly succeeded: the instrumental part came along quite well, but a few weeks back, Björn still had to write all the lyrics.

In the meantime, seven tracks have been completed: ‘Two For The Price Of One’, ‘When All Is Said And Done’, ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’, ‘An Angel Passing Through My Room’, ‘Should I Laugh Or Cry’, ‘Head-Over-Heels’ and ‘I Let The Music Speak’. A single won’t be chosen until all tracks are finished and will probably be released shortly before the album.
But that’s not the only thing that’s keeping ABBA occupied: during the past few months, the group has made a, no less than ninety-minute long, radio-special, ‘ABBA Live In Concert’. The British BBC added interviews with the ABBA-members to the programme and will broadcast the special on New Year’s Day.
In the meantime, the records keep selling: in Canada, 600.000 copies of the ‘Super Trouper’ album were sold, achieving platinum status. Furthermore, 300.000 copies of the single ‘The Winner Takes It All’ have left shops in Brazil and in Israel, both the single and the album achieved gold status.
That’s how the ABBA-company is working at full force and the people to whom it concerns, Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Frida, are at peace with that. During the years that they’ve been on top, they’ve grown accustomed to this life of pressure. During the recording sessions for the new album, it has become clear that the four are very supportive to each other, despite all the gossip. There are no reasons to quit now, on the contrary, ABBA seems to have recovered completely from the dark period in their career. They’re back in business with fresh courage. That’s promising something for 1982!