Thank you so much, Agnetha!

Agnetha Fältskog: “My Colouring Book” (Warner)

By Johnny

They never come back? The Beatles never came back. ABBA won’t ever come back. Agnetha Fältskog did. And how she did! No, her new album doesn’t come along like a “Souper Trouper” or an “Arrival”. ABBA is history for more than 20 years and she has been absent from the music scene for a long time. You can’t bring back the past in that simple way and she’s a wise lady, she knows. My goodness, she‘s had so many “Bang-A-Boomerangs”, they would be enough for the lives of a dozen artists. 17 years after her last album Agnetha doesn’t try to copy her own legend. And that’s exactly what makes the new release so felicitous.

“My Colouring Book” is a trip back to her roots: 13 favourite songs originating from her years of youth. A very, very personal piece of art. It’s not made for the critics and cretins of the yellow press. The language it’s written in is chinese to them. Leave those dribbling and babbling bums alone and take a contemplative moment to listen to the songs. Listen twice. Listen between the lines and discover the severity of every single cover. Want some fire? Hear “Love me with all of your heart”. Sorrow? I recommend “The end of the world”. Attestation? “Remember me”! Intensity? Try “Sealed with a kiss”. And her voice is as miraculous as ever since.

“I must be allowed to be as I am” Agnetha has said to the hunting media and “My Colouring Book” impressively shows that she is willing to claim that right. She created that album for herself and – for her fans. She has explicitely confirmed this and it’s that fact what makes it an unbelievably precious present. Not for everyone and not for the whole world but for those who will be able to measure its value: her fan community who loyally tended her memory for 17 years. With this record she gives so much of herself that indeed the question is how it could be topped by a follow-up and if therefore there ever will be one. But her thankful fans will dare to hope. A miracle that happened once might happen twice, perhaps. And referring to a line in “Remember me” they say: “Darling, don’t let this be our last goodbye!”

The Story of My Colouring Book: Read more here.