When it comes to the Teen POP Bops of the early millennium, the A☆TEENS may have been one of several international groups to infiltrate the US radio labs, but there was something that set them apart.

On 13 May 2002, while Amit, Sara, Dhani, and Marie were in the full throttles of promotion for their sophomore album TEEN SPIRIT, the group released a cover of Elvis Presley’s mega-hit “Can’t Help Falling in Love” for the Walt Disney animated science fiction comedy-drama Lilo & Stich.

Their third album, Pop ‘Till You Drop was released exclusively in North America and Argentina. After its release Marie, Sarah, Amit, and Dhani embarked on their first headlining tour across the states. As a group, the four teenagers took on a more hands-on role in the songwriting process, contributing to four of the album’s twelve tracks – which also included a cover of Alice Cooper’s “Schools Out” which also featured the rock legend.

Peaking at #45 on the Billboard Charts the album spawned only one more single “Floorfiller” which was certified gold in Sweden.

Six months after its release, on 27 January 2003, the album was repacked and re-released for the European Market as New Arrival.

The title, a nod to ABBA’s 1976 fourth studio album, Arrival, featured seven songs previously released on Pop ’til You Drop! as well as six new songs along with the ballad version of their 2001 single “Heartbreak Lullaby” which was included on the European release of the Walt Disney motion picture The Princess Diaries.

New Arrival spawned only one additional single “Perfect Match” in March 2003. The song peaked at #2 on the Swedish charts while the music video was co-directed by the group themselves. 

A more child-friendly version of the song was recorded for Radio Disney which changed the lyrical references to “South Park” and “Snatch” with “Star Wars” and “Flash.”

“We wanted to present a totally new album for the European market because some of our hardcore fans already imported Pop ’til You Drop!, so we wanted to give them something new,” Serneholt said of the album. 

Music was changing and the A☆TEENS were no longer teenagers. New Arrival was the group’s final studio album before releasing their “Greatest Hits” album in 2004. 

However, there will be more A☆TEENS soon so…

Stay tuned!