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The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have done well out of pop acts in the last few years… I wonder if that might be what this is. Or Abbey Road.

There was already an orchestral version of I Was A Flower.

Where is that? I’ve searched a few times and all I can see is the original CD at £6.36 (I’m surprised they’ve not taken that off sale if they’re releasing a new version).

I was wondering how this “re-imagined” version of A could be with BMG when the original album was released by Universal.

Looks like the rights to the album were owned by a Universal company but under exclusive licence from “Tripple A HB”. Presumably the licence has been taken back.

Well, she duetted with Gary Barlow so it’s not too much of a stretch to believe the Kylie possibility. Anything’s an improvement on Barlow (well, apart from Elton John). And don’t forget that Gary Barlow described Agnetha as “the voice of ABBA” as though Frida didn’t exist…

Quote: “I wonder why the article mentions a HUGE new contract for Agnetha, it will most likely be a "one off" project... With as little personal involvement by Agnetha in regards to promotion as possible...”

BAAB, that’s the Mail for you. It also describes her as “they” in the headline. I don’t remember Agnetha coming out as non-binary…

Not sure about the “little personal involvement”. To be going with BMG UK when she doesn’t need to suggests she will be more keen to give it a push than she did with Voyage. The cynic would say (and one I know already has) that her last three albums (including this one) have all been just ahead of, or coinciding with, an important ABBA anniversary. Also, “A” coincided with the opening of the ABBA Museum.

With Voyage, she knew she could fall back on Benny and (more often) Björn to promote it. With her own work she can’t do that and perhaps is more willing to be the salesperson. The only reason My Colouring Book’s promotion got thwarted was because the stalker reappeared. There was apparently more planned for that campaign.

That was the same for most of her English albums though. The one that is perhaps the most true to her is My Colouring Book, as those songs meant something to her. She grew up with those songs and was influenced by their singers.

Frida and Agnetha lost a lot of confidence didn’t they? From interviews Phil Collins gave, it seemed like Frida didn’t know what she wanted other than she quite liked Pat Benatar. At least that was something to start from. I’m not sure Agnetha even had that much idea, but was content to go along with whatever producer she had at the time. Maybe I’m being harsh.

It’s interesting that it’s the UK arm of BMG that’s handling this. BMG is a German company that operates worldwide. It’s a new company that has only operated since 2008, after the original BMG merged into Sony. I wonder if Agnetha has made secret trips to London, or if it’s all been done remotely?

“A” was a very Swedish album, in that it had Swedish writers and producers. It will be interesting to see who’s produced this. Lostboy produced Kylie‘s Padam Padam. I hope Agnetha hasn’t been pushed in that direction (no offence to Kylie but it wouldn’t suit Agnetha).

There’s some excitement about a possible new Agnetha album, her first in just over ten years.

I have to ask this - how exciting would it be if this was a new Frida album, her first in 27 years? She sounded so good on Voyage, and it’s clear that, like Agnetha, she’s disappointed that Benny has dissed the idea of more from ABBA. There’s still a hope that she might have duetted with Agnetha on the rumoured new album. If not I Know Him So Well then hopefully something.

I know their situations are very different. Agnetha has known little else than music and, apart from a 17-year gap between albums, has remained fairly consistent. Frida, on the other hand, has diversified into other areas and music isn’t as important to her. But it would be nice if she felt the urge to make a new album. Either way, it’s clear she’s happy in her life and we certainly aren’t owed anything.

[Really hoping there is a duet on the Agnetha album… Agnetha refused the offer of a duet on Frida’s Djupa Andetag, citing fears of ABBA reunion rumours (and Agnetha was apparently not in a good place at the time), but as the ABBA reunion has finally happened, surely there’s no harm in it now? Frida certainly wouldn’t be churlish as to refuse such an offer simply because Agnetha refused hers all those years ago.]

Trying to imagine Agnetha attempting to cover Love Plus One. Nope, I can’t! Much too low for her and not her style at all!

(Just checked the lyrics and it’s apparently “Where does it go from here?” in the Haircut 100 song. I thought it was “Where do we..” though.).

When I first saw the graphic, I thought of a posthumous Carpenters song released in the late 1980s, but that’s called “Where Do I Go From Here?” (it was a cover version).

Agnetha’s official socials have been updated with a graphic “Where do we go from here?” Each word appears one by one until the full sentence is visible.

I wonder what that’s all about?

Update: speculation seems to be that it might be a new Agnetha single rather than new ABBA music.

Perhaps the recording of a new ABBA album, and the apparent frustration that Benny doesn’t want to do any more, has got Agnetha interested in making new music. If ABBA is a no-go then it has to be solo?

For quite a while from its release, I thought it was Agnetha singing the closing lines of The Visitors (“I have been waiting for these visitors”). In fact, I seem to want to think it’s her now, even though I know it isn’t.

Similarly I’d always thought it was Agnetha doing the “La La La” vocals on Move On. But then someone on a previous forum said it was Frida. I’m now not sure what to think - is it both of them? Agnetha was pregnant when they were making The Album, and had to lie on the floor to record some vocals. Frida had to compensate in places.

The above examples are possibly because both Frida and Agnetha were capable of mimicking the other to some extent. Agnetha could sing lower than her normal register and Frida could sing higher than hers.

It’s not a promo video though. It was filmed for the TV special “ABBA-Dabba-Doo” in 1976, which included exclusive visual performances of eight tracks from Arrival (the exceptions being That’s Me, which later got a promo video, and the title track, though Dancing Queen was represented by the familiar video).

The When I Kissed The Teacher film was included on the More Gold VHS in 1993 (as it was on the corresponding album) which has led some to think it was a proper video. It wasn’t.

See abbaontv.com/programmes/1976/248 for more info.

Ah, that’s my theory out then, Michal. With Michel mentioning 4pm, I wondered if that was the standard start time (even though there are time differences anyway).

Apart from Just Like That of course! “We didn’t like it” etc.