ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog Releases First Single Ahead of May Album Launch

5:47 AM PDT 3/11/2013 by Georg Szalai

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The Swedish singer's “When You Really Loved Someone" became available Monday, with Universal Music also promoting the May 13 release of "A."

ABBA singer Agnetha Faltskog's new album "A" will come out in May, with the first single “When You Really Loved Someone" released on Monday, according to Universal Music Group.

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“Never thought that I’d ever sing again. But hearing the first three songs, I just couldn’t say no!” the Swedish musician said in a statement.

She has been working on the album with proven hitmaker and Grammy-nominated songwriter/producer Jorgen Elofsson, who has been responsible for hits by the likes of Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson and Celine Dion. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/abba-singer-agnetha-faltskog-wo...

Faltskog's 1983 album "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" was a success in Europe, but she went on a long recording break after that.

“A,” which comes out May 13, features one of her first co-written songs in years: “I hadn’t written any music for a long, long time,” she said Monday. “But I sat at the piano, and suddenly it was there.”

“She wanted to make music again,” Elofsson added. “We could feel that. She had been thinking about it. Basically, she’s a musician, a songwriter/singer who hasn’t done that for a while. We saw her open up and become much happier with music again in her life.”

Said Max Hole, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group International: “You can imagine the excitement that all of us felt at the prospect of Agnetha making new music. So we were determined that she would choose Universal to bring that music to the world, and we are gratified that she did. This is a dream project for so many people inside our company and for Agnetha's fans around the globe.”

But Elofsson emphasized that the new album wasn't only for ABBA fans. "We wanted to make this as if Agnetha hadn’t entered ABBA,” he said. “We were interested in what she sounded like if she hadn’t been in the group. And yet it’s important that she comes across as we remember her to be.”

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai