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Abba's Benny Andersson On Songwriting

So many songs are now written by committee, and I don’t understand how that works because for me a song starts with melody combined with chords.

Abba's Benny Andersson On Songwriting

By External Source

Who are your favourite songwriters from any era?


Well if we extend it to include composers, it is Johan Sebastian Bach at number one – and then comes nothing for a long time. Then people like Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, Lennon and McCartney, of course, Brian Wilson, one of my heroes, Ray Davies, Tony Hatch. I won’t be able to remember all the names. And I like the work of [fellow Swede] Max Martin; he knows what he’s doing.

But, so many songs are now written by committee, and I don’t understand how that works because for me a song starts with melody combined with chords. I arrange the song, with bass and drums, after the song is finished, not the other way around. If I start with the drums and the bass and then add some chords, randomly, and then try to write a melody… I don’t know how that works; I don’t get it.

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What that lacks, I think, is a ‘sender’. If someone likes my music, that’s me; it’s me sending it to you. If there are seven people behind it, are they all honest? Do they all mean it?

Benny Andersson, the founding member of Abba, in an interview published by Music Business Worldwide

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Valley
Becca Hamel

Vallée

Valley fait son entrée au classement canadien de diffusion radio rock moderne avec « When You Know Someone »

Le morceau entraînant du groupe torontois se maintient à la 6e place du classement de la diffusion rock moderne au Canada pour une deuxième semaine consécutive. Par ailleurs, plusieurs artistes canadiens font une entrée remarquée dans les palmarès radio, dont renforshort, Robyn Ottolini et Texas King.

Valley progresse dans les classements Billboard Canada Airplay cette semaine.

Le titre « When You Know Someone », extrait de leur album Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden (2024), atteint la 6e place du palmarès Modern Rock daté du 28 juin. Ce single pop-rock percutant, porté par une énergie à la fois sombre et irrésistiblement contagieuse, confirme la montée en puissance du groupe canadien.

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