Finnish broadcasting company YLE's Swedish language unit Svenska Yle interviewed Björn from his home in Stockholm. Part of the interview was seen in their news broadcast TV Nytt with the rest as part of a written article.

A happy and energetic Björn told that over the years he has met people from different parts of the world who have told him about how they grew up with ABBA. He said he had recently met a woman in her 30's whose life was influenced by the Swedish pop group: "She said that she had not been into ABBA that much during her upbringing, but in some context she noticed that she could sing along to every other song. She knew the lyrics and she did not know how she had learned them. There is something in it, we have been there as a soundtrack. It's almost in people's DNA."

Although ABBA had a break of several decades, the band's music has remained in Björn Ulvaeus' life over the years.  He was asked what was missing from the first period with ABBA?  He replied, "Actually nothing. Benny and I have continued to write but for other things like musicals. We have continued to work. I've been involved in a hell of a lot of interesting projects, so I have not exactly missed it. I never thought it was particularly interesting to go on tour but the writing has continued."

He still emphasizes that it was fun to work with the band again and especially to be able to write songs that would be sung by Agnetha and Frida. "It was very stimulating to work with ABBA again."

That ABBA has changed during the long break is noticeable in the themes of music, among other things. Previously, the songs could be about for example about divorce between a couple as in The Winner Takes It All, while the new song Keep An Eye on Dan is about the torment of being the mother of a divorced child.  He said, "I notice that when I write now I have a character in front of me. The person who is going to sing is a character, someone that I can sometimes see in front of me and sometimes see what he or she is doing. I see a scene in front of me that I describe from this person's perspective that is going to sing. That is perhaps what makes such a focus on the story itself in the song."

Among the reviewers, opinions about the new album seem to diverge. For example, the reputable music magazine Rolling Stone gave the album four out of five stars while The Guardian gave a worse rating.  He was asked if he read the reviews.  "No, I do not do that because there can still be some bad criticism that I think is unreliable and mean. Then I take it upon myself. I do not read but I only find out from publicists. They say it's mostly positive and that's enough for me."

Björn had heard that The Rolling Stones and some other artistes are following with interest the work with ABBA's Voyage arena show. When Björn wakes up in the morning he want to be curious on what he is working with right at that time. But he also wants to have something new waiting in the near future. Like now when Pippi på Cirkus is coming after Voyage.

Watch it here

Thanks to Jan Bach, Brian Johnson and Pee Kopenen c/o ABBAtalk