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The clock is ticking. Soon the A*Teens will leave their teen years behind. But that's no problem for the Stockholm-based vocal quartet, who showcase a striking musical maturity on their new MCA album, POP TIL YOU DROP. In its twelve tracks, the album elevates the group to a higher stratum of sophistication, while retaining the same spirit of fun and freedom that made A*Teens one of the world's most popular young bands. Since their 1998 debut, Marie, Amit, Sara, and Dhani have proven remarkably graceful under pressure. They gladly took on the rigors of stardom, constant travel, and high-stakes deadlines, all with a laugh and a smile. Along the way, they sold millions of records worldwide (including more than 1.5 million albums in the U.S. alone), and toured with the likes of 'N Sync, Britney Spears and Aaron Carter. They bring all that experience to bear on POP TIL YOU DROP, which includes several songs co-written by the group members themselves. "We were much more involved on this one compared to our previous albums," says Amit. To create POP TIL YOU DROP, the A*Teens turned to top songwriting/production teams in Sweden and beyond, including Grizzly and Tysper (Think Productions); Mark Hammond; Chris Nelson (Maratone Productions); Peter Bostrem; Tobias Lindell and Peter Bjorklund (Tremolomusic.com); Red One (The One Productions); and David Eriksen (Murlyn Music AB). By
their own admission, the A*Teens don't easily reach that benchmark.
Worldwide touring in the wake of its release brought new levels of success for the A*Teens. One highlight came as the band arrived in Thailand as part of their 2001 tour, finding their pictures on cans of Coca-Cola. Remembers Sara, "We were the first international artists ever to appear on a soda can there. They printed 15 million of them; we went home with ten!" By the end of 2001, the four were back in Sweden gearing up for the writing and recording of the new album. But by then, some things had changed. "We traveled the world for three years," notes Amit. "All the people and cultures we experienced helped us grow in so many ways. We have a real global overview now." Adds Marie, "The biggest difference between now and earlier in our career is that we feel much closer to our families. Being away from them so much is hard. We truly appreciate what we have at home. " Equally important, all four have come to strongly rely on each other as friends and colleagues. "We were close before the group," notes Sara, "but now we're like brothers and sisters." Adds Dhani, "Being in a tour bus with the samepeople every day, you're either gonna love 'em or hate 'em... we happen to love each other." That's
fortunate, since the months ahead will find A*Teens once again traveling
the world
performing before their countless fans. They will be one of the headlining acts on the Radio Disney tour that runs through the summer of 2002. Among the other places they hope to visit are Hawaii, Australia, and any tropical locales they can visit. "Hey, we're from Sweden," laughs Dhani. "We want to go surfing!" Still, they harbor even bigger aspirations. The four hope to do large-scale concerts ('a big world tour," exclaims Dhani) plunge deeper into writing and producing, acting, choreography, anything to challenge their artistic impulses. Mostly,
however, they hope to foster the kind of joy and healing only music
can bring about. |