Ex-ABBA mates team up for new songs

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 8 (UPI) -- Swedish singer-songwriters and former ABBA members Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson have introduced their first new tracks in 15 years.

The BBC said Thursday "Second Best to None" was recorded by employees at the Stockholm hotel Andersson owns, then released as a single in Sweden.

"We all had some fun doing this. They can sing," Andersson said of his staff.

"I realized that at least 20 of them were singing in amateur choirs in Stockholm," he said. "I asked them, 'Do you want me to write a song for you and we can put it on our home page?' They said, 'yes,' so that's what I did. And I asked Bjorn if he would like to write the lyrics, and we recorded it with the staff. We released it as a single, as well. It's just a lot of fun and it's taking care of the staff at the hotel more than anything else."

The song "Story of a Heart" is to be featured on the upcoming inaugural English-language album from Andersson's current group, The Benny Andersson Band, the BBC said.

Andersson said he and Ulvaeus last collaborated on songs for Josefin Nilsson in the early 1990s.

"We haven't done any pop songs for a long time," Andersson told the BBC.