Björn Ulvaeus - May 2022

 24. May 2022 

Abba in London, Björn Ulvaeus im Interview: Coolness neu definieren

https://twitter.com/SZ/status/1529107688717697025

ABBA say ‘Thank You for the Music’ to SIS choir

 ABBA say ‘Thank You for the Music’ to SIS choir

nov 2021

ABBA’s comeback album – their first in nearly four decades – was, without doubt, the biggest news in pop music this year. Now that the hotly-anticipated Voyage is out, we are thrilled to share some news of our own:

Seven members of the SIS primary school choir have lent their voices for the record!
You can hear their voices on track 3 ‘Little Things’.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that an SIS choir has sung on an ABBA record. In 1979, the band asked the choir to sing on ‘I Have a Dream’ and, to this day, SIS singers have been the only additional voices ever to appear on a recorded ABBA song.

Recreating history

Fast forward to 2021, when a Dutch TV production company contacted Kimberley Akester (Extra-curricular Music and Events Facilitator) about recreating the historic moment for an ABBA documentary fronted by singer-songwriter duo Nick & Simon and presenter Kees. Kimberley and Anneli Thompson (MYP Drama Teacher) took singers from Grades 4 and 5 to Nalen, a famous Stockholm music venue not far from campus, where they performed ‘I Have a Dream,’ with ABBA’s original backing musicians. They even met two members of the SIS choir who’d sung on the original track!  

About a month later, Benny Andersson’s PA emailed Kimberley to ask if SIS would be interested in bringing some students to their studio to sing on a new track. Not surprisingly, her answer was an immediate and resounding yes! Björn Ulvaeus and Benny were looking for what they described as an ethereal, pure and childlike sound, and sent over some music to look at.

“I picked eight students to sing,” she explains, “but even though we rehearsed a lot, Covid meant someone was always off sick or isolating. Even when the day of the recording came, we only had seven out of the eight students available to go.”

On the sunniest of Stockholm mornings, Benny and Björn welcomed Kimberley, Anneli, and our seven singers at the door of their waterside recording studios. After a quick rehearsal, Kimberley and the students put on their headphones and Anneli headed up to the box with Björn and Benny to listen. The music played, our students sang their part and – incredibly – it was done in just one take! Everyone celebrated with ice cream and cake, and took lots of photographs! 

“Our students were so amazing that day,” says Kimberley. “I’m so proud of them.”

Anneli Thompson recounts the exciting experience, saying,

‘When we pulled up to the studio, the door opened and Benny stepped out into the sunshine to greet us with Björn following close behind. Kimberley walked up to them and Benny welcomed her with, ‘I believe we have met before…’ and they chatted like old chums. They were so welcoming and friendly to the children and us and it was a fantastic atmosphere when we went into the studio to record. Kimberley had practiced and prepared with these kids and they looked like pro’s when the time came to record the first take!

It’s always an honour to work alongside Kimberley as she is pure excellence (as I strive to be). When I sat on the sofa in the recording studio, I watched as Benny and Björn looked at each other after the first take and said, ‘That’s it. We got it!’ 

Thank you for the music!  

A copy of the choir’s part, signed by Björn and Benny, now has pride of place in Kimberley’s office. She admits that she only found out they had made it onto the album when she watched Björn and Benny’s BBC press conference. “When they said there’s even a Christmas song called ‘Little Things’, I fell off my couch!”. 

We’re immensely grateful to ABBA for choosing to work with SIS again after more than 40 years, and giving our students and staff an experience they’ll never forget. We would also like to thank the band for kindly donating to the SIS Spirit Fund this year, which will help ensure our school and our wonderful singers continue to create impact through music.

https://stockholmis.se/abba-say-thank-you-for-the-music-to-sis-choir/

Wallenius on avatar voyage with Abba to wind-powered reality

 30 January 2023 Updated  

Wallenius on avatar voyage with Abba to wind-powered reality

Swedish shipping group Wallenius is on a voyage with avatars alongside compatriot pop legends Abba. It is borrowing Eagle song to promote its Oceanbird project.

Wallenius on avatar voyage with Abba to wind-powered reality

Swedish shipping group promoting car carrier that can cut emissions by 90% with song Eagle as it progresses to test wing sail on land this year and at sea in 2024

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Oceanbird aims high with wind wings that reach for the sky

Swedish shipping group Wallenius is on a voyage with avatars alongside compatriot pop legends Abba from which it is borrowing a song to promote its Oceanbird project. But they are going in opposite directions.

Where Abba Voyage is a virtual concert with avatars used to recreate the singers from nearly 50 years ago, Oceanbird is using digital constructions to go forward with a new reality: to build a wind-propelled 7,000 vehicle-capacity car carrier that can cut carbon emissions by 90%.

Led by the AlfaWall Oceanbird joint venture with technology company Alfa Laval, the 11 partner-project aims to have a full-scale wing sail rig under land-based testing this year.

And a unit will be fitted to the existing Wallenius Wilhelmsen car carrier, the 71,673-gt Tirranna (built 2009) during a scheduled drydocking in mid-2024.

The project received €9m ($9.7m) in funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe grants system for renewable research this month to develop a wind-propelled newbuilding sailing by late 2026 or early 2027.

Land-based tests are expected to optimise sail assembly processes and examine how the mechanics and automated systems work, said Oceanbird managing director Niclas Dahl in a live and online briefing.

Testing under real-life conditions on the Tirranna will follow, in part to validate how well earlier computer design work, digital and real models plus wind tunnel and wave tank tests compare with performance at sea.

A lot of work needs to be done to prepare an existing high-sided ship not originally designed to take a sail, said Roger Strevens, vice president of global sustainability at Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

Structural and stability issues have to be addressed to take account of the extra weight and thrust stresses imposed by adding the sails, Strevens said, as well as crew training.

But the developers are not just looking at the design for the car carrier newbuilding, the Orcelle Wind, they also want to develop retrofit wing systems for ships from tankers to bulkers and boxships.

A wing sail will be fitted to Wallenius Wilhelmsen car carrier, the 71,673-gt Tirranna (built 2009) during a drydocking in mid-2024. Photo: AlfaWall Oceanbird

Oceanbird technical project manager Emil Kotz said added weight and propulsive thrust factors are the main elements for any vessel with a 40m-high sail weighing 150 tons

Weight has already been reduced while retaining the same performance, Kotz said, with the sail's size cut by 50% when an original telescopic design was changed to a tilting one.

The sail’s structural limit is 20 meters per second, equivalent to 40 knots, but Kotz said lower operational limits might be set for safety and crew comfort reasons.

Wallenius said future ships may be named after Abba hits when it last year that the virtual concert hall the Abba Arena in East London would have an Oceanbird Departure Lounge.

The ship project is now being promoted with the Abba song Eagle which includes the lines: “I dream I can spread my wings” and “Am I dreaming, or is it all real?”

Oceanbird aims to take a lead in making wind propulsion real.

Tightening environmental legislation and stronger carbon-cutting targets means everyone in shipping will have to find ways to cut emissions to be in compliance with regulations.

“We can’t be conservative. That’s a fast track to obsolescence, but we must be cautious,” Strevens said.