23 APRIL 2021: A*TEENS – Upside Down

Does ANYTHING sum up early-noughties teen pop quite like this?

Conceived as a youthful ABBA tribute band in the late 90s, Swedish quartet A*Teens scored their biggest hit internationally with the sunny original track ‘Upside Down’. With its Cheiron-esque turn-of-the-millennium production, and a truly massive stomper of a chorus, it does the same thing every great ABBA song does, and that’s putting the melody front and centre. Yes, it’s twee as anything, but for anyone of a certain age it just packs a bucketload of childhood nostalgia, and it’s as catchy as it ever was even after all these years.