ABBA "Little Things"
Courtesy PhotoFor ABBA, the firsts have come in threes this year. In November, they landed their first top 10 album on the Billboard 200. Later that month, they received their first Grammy nomination. Now, they are releasing their first Christmas single, “Little Things.”
The simple song is a gentle reflection on the joy of Christmas morning and family time around the holidays. The ballad has specific holiday references, including “As a brand-new day is dawning/ It’s a lovely Christmas morning.” And “Oh, what joy Santa brings/ Thanks old friend for packing Christmas stockings full of nice little things.”
The song was written by ABBA masterminds Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, who wrote all the songs on Voyage, their first studio album in nearly 40 years.
“Little Things” is the third single from Voyage, following “I Still Have Faith in You” (which received a Grammy nomination for record of the year) and “Just a Notion.”
Proceeds from the sale of “Little Things” will go to UNICEF to support the Global Child Protection Fund. The members of ABBA — Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Andersson and Ulvaeus — said in a statement, “We think it is impossible to eradicate poverty without the empowerment of women. That’s why we support UNICEF in protecting girls from sexual violence and empowering them through the Global Child Protection Fund. We have done so for many years with our song ‘Chiquitita’ and now we have decided to give UNICEF a Christmas gift in the form of a second song.”
Sophie Muller, a top video director who is described in a press release as a “longtime ABBA fan,” directed the “Little Things” video. Muller was just beginning her career as a video director in 1982 when ABBA retired. Muller won a BRIT Award for British video of the year for Shakespear’s Sister’s “Stay” in February 1993. Eight days later, she won a Grammy for best music video, long-form for Annie Lennox’s Diva. Muller has also worked with such artists as No Doubt, Gwen Stefani, Sade, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Radiohead and Björk.
The “Little Things” video is a take on the production behind ABBA Voyage, the series of concerts featuring digital versions of ABBA that will open in London next year. Centered around a group of school-age children, many of whom are close to (or related to) the creative team behind the concerts, the kids are inspired to create an ABBA Voyage Christmas Special. They embark on the enterprise of motion capture, choreography, costume design, stage lighting and band rehearsals, culminating with the arrival of parents and family members to watch a performance by the re-imagined ABBA.
Voyage entered the Billboard 200 at No. 2 on the chart dated Nov. 20, beating the quartet’s previous high of No. 14, set with The Album in 1978. Voyage opened with 82,000 album-equivalent units, including 78,000 in album sales, which made it the top-selling album of the week.
Voyage reached the No. 1 spot in 18 countries, including the U.K., Germany, Australia and Sweden.
Next year will see the opening of ABBA Voyage, which will see the group’s members as digital avatars at their own especially built ABBA Arena at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. They will perform a set of ABBA’s greatest hits along with two songs from Voyage, “I Still Have Faith in You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down,” alongside a 10-piece live band.
ABBA Voyage is directed by Baillie Walsh, and produced by Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson.
NEWS
Mustard has seemingly hit back at comments from Drake‘s producer Gordo, with a little help from JAY-Z.
Gordo, who worked on several Drizzy albums including $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, For All the Dogs and Honestly, Nevermind, called out the “Not Like Us” hitmaker this week after noticing that he was no longer following him on social media.
“omg just noticed mustard unfollowed me on ig…. Sad day,” he wrote sarcastically on X. “headlining chella must of got to his head.”
Despite unfollowing Gordo, Mustard appeared to catch wind of his post and issued a snarky yet subliminal response on Instagram.
Alongside a caption which read: “We not the same,” the producer posted a video of JAY-Z in an interview saying: “Are you kidding me? Who are you guys talking to? What have you done to even have an opinion on what I been doing? You done nothing to even have an opinion.”
Swipe below to see the clip.
Mustard hasn’t exactly been quiet about his disdain for Drake throughout the 6 God’s beef with Kendrick Lamar which erupted last year.
The multi-platinum producer and DJ graced the stage at Tyler, The Creator‘s Camp Flog Gnaw last November, where he surprised the crowd by appearing to cue up Drizzy’s Take Care hit “Crew Love” with The Weeknd.
Before the song could kick into gear, however, Mustard jumped on the mic and yelled, “Sike!” before quickly pivoting to Kendrick, Future and Metro Boomin‘s “Like That,” the blistering collaboration that ignited the heated feud between the Hip Hop titans.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times months earlier, the 10 Summers hitmaker took a shot at Drake’s character while ruling out a reunion with his “Who Do You Love?” collaborator.
“I don’t think I want to make a song with that dude. He’s a strange guy,” he said matter-of-factly.
Mustard would also offer Drake some advice on how to bounce back from the beef, saying to Big Boy: “I’m not speaking at Drake or for him, but a lot of shit that’s going on — the tactics, the things that you do just to get attention. You don’t need to do that. Just make music, man. Make good music and you’ll be fine.”
Mustard also made a surprise appearance during Kendrick Lamar’s historic Super Bowl halftime show performance, joining the Compton superstar for his climactic rendition of “TV Off” which he also produced.
