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<p><b>'Almost as miraculous as the songs it exists to celebrate.' PETE PAPHIDES<br/>'The only ABBA book that the world will ever need.' TONY PARSONS<br/>'Writing perfection on musical perfection: book heaven.' CAITLIN MORAN</b><br/><b><br/>Through exclusive interviews and over a decade of deep research, renowned music journalist Jan Gradvall explores the secrets to ABBA's success.</b><br/><br/>More than half a century after their songs were recorded, ABBA still make people the world over dance and sing their hearts out. After interviewing the four members for an article in 2013 - at which time the band had not been interviewed for over thirty years - Jan Gradvall was granted unique access to them for the next decade. In <i>The Book of ABBA</i>, the band share their thoughts and opinions more openly than ever before, while Jan reveals the context in which their sound developed - and shows how the story of ABBA is also the story of Sweden and the globalisation of pop culture.<br/><br/>From their chart-topping ABBA <i>Voyage</i> - their first album in forty years - to the two-million-ticket-selling concert-experience of the same name, it is undeniable that, in the history of pop culture and music, there has never been a group like ABBA. With remarkable intimacy, Gradvall's book brings readers closer than ever to one of the world's most notoriously private music icons.</p>

<p>Wonderfully engaging, expansive and ambitious, <i>Sound Tracks</i> tells the history of our relationship with music in sixty detective stories, each focusing on the discovery of a musical instrument - or its fragments - in archaeological digs around the world. Taking us from the present day - finding a 100-year-old wax cylinder recording on a flea market - all the way back to the dawn of time - the thrilling discovery of a prehistoric flute - long-lost music is itself reconstructed as we enter the worlds of those who created it.<br/><br/>We feel the delight of a child in Peru in 700 AD, playing with a water-filled pot designed to chirp like a bird; we appreciate the difficult task of a soldier sending signals by trumpet to the next watchtower on Hadrian's Wall; we can almost hear the sounds of the sixty-four bells buried in a tomb in China in the 5th century BC.<br/><br/>Graeme Lawson takes us on a grand tour of the world's greatest musical discoveries, revealing that music is part of human DNA - not just in its role as pastime, entertainment or religious expression but also as a medium in which we commemorate our pasts, communicate with each other, and shape our identities, relationships and communities.<br/><br/>Written with verve and passion and brimming with astonishing insights, <i>Sound Tracks</i> is an enthralling alternative history of humanity in which the silences of the past are filled with a wonderful treasure hoard of forgotten sounds and voices.</p>

<p><i>For twelve years, others have tried to tell our story. Others have tried to put into words how two ten-year-old twins came to be called the biggest pop phenomenon in the Nordics. Now it&rsquo;s our turn.</i></p><p>Sold-out concerts, prestigious awards and screaming fans were everyday life for Marcus and Martinus for many years, but just as they were about to embark on their first world tour, everything they had built came crashing down. As the Covid-19 pandemic spread, the twin brothers found themselves isolated in their hometown, forced to face their first major crisis. While the situation gave them a rare opportunity to live a normal life, one question gnawed at them: Would their audience welcome them back &mdash; this time as adult artists?</p><p>For the first time, Marcus and Martinus share the darker side of growing up in the spotlight, the crash that threatened to destroy everything they had worked for, and the challenges of finding their own voices after always being seen as one half of a duo.</p><p>*</p><p><b>Marcus &amp; Martinus</b> burst onto the international music scene in 2012 and have since continued to captivate audiences with their charismatic performances. With millions of followers worldwide and over a billion streams, the Norwegian duo has sold out arenas across Scandinavia.<br/></p><p><b>Frida Söderlund</b> is a journalist and author.</p>