A is for... Aquarius

The second and latest album by Scandanavian pop-band Aqua involves only a single change of letter from the first, M becomes S, but marks a new dawn in the band's history. Aquarius is almost a concept album with stunning science-fiction artwork, and a deeper production which helps take the squeaky vs growl aspects of the main vocals into more mature territory. The album has been a long time in the making but Aqua are keen to avoid the second-album flop that plagues many bands with such a stunning debut. Aquarium sold 14 million copies worldwide; with full record company backing, they hope to do the same again. The title track from the album is a lush orchestral ballad with wonderful chorus backing. And the melody is reprised in a salsa style on the sunny Cuba Libre. Aquarius is also an enhanced CD with band pictures, track-by-track production notes and even an aquarius vs the giant octopus game...

B is for... Barbie Girl

Outside of Scandanavia Barbie Girl was the hit that made Aqua's name. The video featured Lene as Barbie and René as Ken in a plastic dream-house complete with swimming pool. Kids loved it from first hearing although adults were a bit alarmed by the double meanings in the lyrics. The single reached no 1 in many countries including the UK where it reigned for four weeks keeping Natalie Imbruglia's Torn from the top spot. It also hit the top 10 in the US.

C is for... Claus

Claus Norreen was born in Copenhagen on June 5th, 1970. He writes and produces most of Aqua's songs along with Søren. He's a big science fiction fan: his favourite film is Bladerunner and book is Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He likes all kinds of exotic and spicy food and lists his main hobby as being lazy.

D is for... Denmark

Three-quarters of the group are Danish and so it's not surprising that the Danes see them as their biggest musical export since Victor Borge (who even I only vaguely remember). Aqua have swept the board at the Danish equivalent of the Grammys. Denmark has close ties with the other Scandanavian countries of Norway and Sweden and so it's natural that their first hits abroad should have charted there.

E is for... Early Days

Claus and Søren began writing songs together in 1989 and teaming up with singers René and Lene they formed Joyspeed. Their debut single "Itzy Bitzy" spent a solitary week in the Swedish charts. They switched record companies and names to Aqua. Their first single Roses Are Red was an instant smash in Denmark which they quickly followed up with My Oh My. Roses Are Red was tried out on the British pop-dance scene but DJs returned the promos with the message "Please don't send this stuff!" It was clear that only a special track would break the group in the UK... With the release of Barbie Girl, their first CD album, Aquarium, was ensured success...

F is for... Freaky Friday

Freaky Friday from the new album is a laugh at all those country songs where the singer loses everything. It was originally done in a country style but ended up sounding too happy-go-lucky. It's still uptempo and with hollers and a joke country intro, great fun. Also fun and a bit freaky is Halloween, where René plays a Scream-like telephone caller frightening the wits out of poor Lene.

G is for... Good Guys

Good is a popular word with the Aqua writers. Probably the song that sounds most like Turn Back Time but with a quicker tempo, Good Guys on Aquarius is a mellow track that talks of the "good guys getting what they came for and only the dreamer leaving with a broken heart". Another Good on the album is the final track Goodbye To The Circus, a slightly sad tale telling us that the fun is over... for now. Finally Goodmorning Sunshine was the fifth single in the UK from Aquarium.

H is for... Heroes

The first single from Aquarius, Cartoon Heroes, comes with a great video. Our heroes are called back from deep space to battle a giant octopus that's destroying the earth. On the way they stop at a fuel-station to refuel Aquarius, their space/submarine. The song was started while the band were still finishing off the first album but they knew then that they didn't have time to do the track justice. With its multi-layered sound of voices and orchestral backing Cartoon Heroes became the template for the new album. The words are important too. "You think we're so mysterious - don't take us all too serious" is a warning to critics who might be looking at the album from too high a view-point. Have fun folks! is what they are saying...

I is for... Irritating

In a poll of the most irritating songs overheard from Walkmans, "Barbie Girl" was number one. But before we, as fans, should despair, the song is in great company including "Ooh Aah ... Just A Little Bit" by Gina G, "I Should Be So Lucky" by Kylie Minogue and "All Around The World" by Oasis. And at least it shows that commuters everywhere know who Aqua are...

J is for... Jones, Doctor Jones

Dr Jones was the second british Aqua single and the first to go straight in at number one. The video showed Lene on a search through the jungle for Dr Jones played by René. Captured by cannibals, she is eventually freed by of course Dr Jones. The song was number one for two weeks starting on 7th February 1998 and was only knocked off the top spot by the Titanic theme My Heart Will Go On. Dr Jones is also the name of Lene's pet beagle...

K is for... Kosovo

At the height of the Serbian conflict, many Danish artists including Aqua and their pop copies, Cartoons, got together to record a single to benefit Kosovar refugees. The song "Selv En Dråbe" (Even A Drop) sold 66000 copies on its first day sales on April 21st 1998. Written by Stig Kreutzfeldt and Poul Krebs, the song featured vocals by Aqua, Me & My, Cartoons, SOAP, and Michael Learns To Rock front man Jascha Richter, with around 50 other top Danish acts.

L is for... Lene

Lene Grawford Nystrøm was born in Tønsberg, Norway on October 2nd, 1973. She's a bit of a party animal (as revealed in an issue of FHM) and also likes science fiction with Stargate as one of her favourite movies. One day she'd like to live on a big farm with lots of animals. She likes music by Savage Garden and seems to prefer Five to Westlife (especially after Bryan from the latter claimed their two-day romance lasted a month.) She's very hot-tempered and at one point during all the Barbie fuss in the states she swore at the audience, stormed off stage and smashed up her dressing-room.

M is for... My Oh My

My Oh My was the fourth single from Aquarium to be released in the UK and the first to miss being no 1. It peaked at no 6 on the 1st of August 1998. The video featured the boys as Pirates and poor Lene as a captive. After being whipped, forced to walk the plank and fighting with her cutlass, Lene joins the pirate band and they go on to discover treasure on a desert island.

N is for... No Airplay

One of the problems of being an Aqua fan in Britain is that the major radio stations refuse to play their music. Only Turn Back Time got any reasonable play here, and possibly only because of the movie tie-in. This isn't restricted to Aqua of course, many acts suffer because they are seen as pop lightweights. The good news is that some of the more mature or local stations are happy to play them, while a good video such as Cartoon Heroes always has a chance on MTV or the Box music channels. The situation is unlikely to change although dropping listener audience share may force a rethink, who knows?

O is for... Orbits

Two of the stronger tracks from Aquarius are the second single Around the World which is released on May 29th in the UK, and the delicious Back from Mars. Around the World features sound effects of a World War I fighter so perhaps we can expect René as the Red Baron? In fact the video has a James Bond/Sixties theme with the band as jewel thieves and is supposed to include an astonishing stunt by Lene. Certainly someone dives off a building. Is it her? It's a good pop song that began life as Larger Than Life until the Backstreet Boys smash put paid to that idea. Back from Mars is my current favourite from the album. With allusions to Barbie Girl's plastic world and obvious jokes at the expense of the jet-set, it also has a soaring chorus.

P is for... Princes

FHM tried to get Lene to say something controversial about Prince William in her recent magazine article but she avoided the issue. She did reveal that she has had contact with three other princes. The Prince of Brunei is according to her a big Aqua fan and even sends lyrics to the band. She's had dinner with Prince Albert of Monaco and one night in Paris she and a girlfriend met Prince Frederik of Denmark, had a few drinks, went clubbing and ended up really pissed at his apartment. Nothing happened however, she says...

Q is for... Quit

In their past lives the members of Aqua have quit a variety of jobs. Claus and Søren were petrol-pump attendants when they first met up; Søren was a salesman and a paper-boy; René was a DJ, window cleaner, butcher and chef; and Lene was a model (at 16 she was tricked into posing nude) and a Norwegian tv-hostess, a bar-tender and a member of the National Guard where she learned to shoot...

R is for... René

René Dif was born on October 17th, 1967. He drives a Ferrari, is impatient when the band aren't on the road, and admits to biting his nails. He doesn't read much but enjoys watching the Jerry Springer show. He has one sister, two brothers and a daughter (whom he says is the best thing in his life.) His favourite food is hot and spicy and he loves his Gameboy... He was working as a DJ when he met up with Claus and Søren and suggests that if Aqua were to split up he would go back to remixing...

S is for... Søren

Søren Rasted was born on June 13th, 1969 in Copenhagen. With Claus he writes the majority of Aqua's songs and also does a lot of the band's backing vocals. His favourite TV shows are NYPD Blue and You've Been Framed, lists Matt Johnson, Nelson Mandela and Nina Hagen as his heroes and likes music by The The. His worst trait is being grumpy in the morning although he is a mostly happy, fun-loving guy. His hobbies include playing piano and guitar and cooking.

T is for... Turn Back Time

By 1998 the music press, in Britain at least, had written Aqua off as a highly irritating children's group with no serious musical ability. However when Aqua released Turn Back Time as their third single from Aquarium, the press and radio DJs both took the band more seriously at least for a while. The song, Aqua's third number one in a row in the UK, was the main theme song for the romantic comedy set in London Sliding Doors. The video for the song disappointed many fans as the excess of the cartoon-style previous videos was missing, replaced by the band wandering around the city's underground railway, the tube.

U is for... US Justice

When Barbie Girl first exploded around the world and in the USA in particular, Mattel, the makers of the Barbie doll, were furious. They saw the risqué elements of the song and video damaging to the wholesome image of their toy, and they must have been peeved at a band using their trademark without authorisation. Several law-suits were launched, the media in the US went wild and everywhere Aqua went on promotional tours people presented their kids to the group dressed as Barbie and Ken. In the end the law-suits were dismissed by US judges who felt that there was no evidence that the Barbie image was suffering or that a parody of the plastic doll violated copyright. All well and good but will Marvel or DC like the use of Spiderman or Superman in Cartoon Heroes? Let's hope so...

V is for... Video

One of Aqua's trademarks is the style of their videos. Each (except for Turn Back Time) are more like cartoon strips with fun titles, visual (if plot-thin) storylines, and lots of action. Six of these, "Roses Are Red", "Barbie Girl", "Lollipop (Candyman)", "Doctor Jones", "My Oh My" and "Turn Back Time" are included on the Aqua Diary, a video released in 1998 that also contains footage of the making of Aquarium, as well as shots of the band touring all over the world.

W is for... We Belong To The Sea

The likely third single from the new album is one of the best tracks. We Belong To The Sea is a relaxing duet about the sea with excellent lyrics and an anthemic chorus. Both Lene and René's vocals are superb, showing a greater range and quality of voice than most of their normal repertoire. The song also has a great Scandanavian feel to it with beautiful vocal and strong instrumental backing. It certainly looks like it will be a big hit this summer.

X is for... X-Rated

While searching for source material for this page I came across a very unlikely source, the monthly men's magazine FHM. Lene features on the March 2000 issue in a very provocative pose and the pictures inside are no less sexy. The interview too is rather fun. Lene admits that while touring she and the guys often see each other naked although nothing ever comes of it except a slap and a tickle... She also speaks about how she hated her early modelling. At 16 she and a few friends posed naked for a photographer and while she says the results were rather beautiful she certainly didn't enjoy the experience. She reveals that Puff Daddy once tried to chat her up but she declined the offer, although she does enjoy flirting with celebrities. She also talks about her tattoos and piercings. A positive article on the whole if a little too adult for most fans...

Y is for... Yummy

"Lollipop" (Candyman) was another single release from Aquarium in many territories. The video was set in space (although the sets were much less realistic than Cartoon Heroes) with René a hero who saves the others from aliens. Continuing the theme on the new album is the track An Apple A Day. It has quite a poppy sound although the irony in the lyrics about clichés may be lost on some people.

Z is for... Zzzzz

Bumble Bees is seen by most fans as a likely later single. René plays a bee while Lene is the flower he is about to plunder. The sound is more like the hits from the first album but as usual it's fun with a great "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am" hook...

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this brief look at Aqua's world. I'll be keeping the page up-to-date so come back often. If you have any corrections or ideas for entries let me know... Thanks for reading.