Home

Supergroup ABBA are back with new album Voyage

Simon Johnson & Johan AhlanderThe West Australian
CommentsComments
VideoThe Swedish supergroup have also announced a ‘revolutionary’ concert experience.

Swedish supergroup ABBA have announced their first new album in four decades and said they would stage a series of virtual concerts using digital avatars of themselves in London next year.

Fans piled online to celebrate the long-awaited reunion of one of the world’s most successful bands. “2021 has been saved by new ABBA music,” elliemiles23 said in one widely shared Twitter post.

The album Voyage will be released on November 5, the band said during the streamed launch.

They released two of its 10 songs — I Still Have Faith In You and Don’t Shut Me Down — yesterday.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW
Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson at the London launch of ABBA’s concerts for Voyage.
Camera IconBjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson at the London launch of ABBA’s concerts for Voyage. Credit: Handout/ABBA via Getty Images

“First it was just two songs,” songwriter Benny Andersson said in a pre-recorded video message.

“Then we said, ‘Maybe we should do, I don’t know, a few others. What do you say girls?’ And they said, ‘Yeah’.

“Then I asked, ‘Why don’t we do a full album?’”

Co-songwriter Bjorn Ulvaeus said the recording went smoothly.

“It all came rushing back in a matter of seconds,” he said, adding that when he heard I Still Have Faith In You it was ABBA all over.

“I knew when Benny played the melody it just had to be about us.”

Supergroup ABBA are back with a new album.
Camera IconSupergroup ABBA are back with a new album. Credit: OLLE LINDEBORG/EPA

The new album will also include the Christmas song Little Things.

The concerts will be held at a purpose-built ABBA Arena in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in May.

They will feature digital versions of its four stars Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

The “abbatars” were created using motion capture technology — similar to that used to create Gollum in The Lord of the Rings movies — and will show members of the band as they looked in 1979.

“The only big problem was that we had to shave our beards,” Andersson said.

he said the concerts would feature 22 songs, including the two new numbers and a “sort of a greatest hits” compilation including Dancing Queen.

ABBA was founded in the early 1970s by then couples Agnetha and Bjorn, together with Benny and Anni-Frid. Their initials gave the band its name.

They sold more than 385 million albums and topped charts from Australia to America with a string of hits including Waterloo, The Winner Takes It All and Take A Chance On Me.

Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Foltskog, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus perform at United Nations General Assembly in New York on January 9, 1979.
Camera IconAnni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Foltskog, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus perform at United Nations General Assembly in New York on January 9, 1979. Credit: Ron Frehm/AP

Their last album with fresh material, 1981’s The Visitors, included songs tinged with the sadness of their divorces. The band split a year later.

Rumours swirled for years that ABBA would get back together but the members turned down many offers, including a reported $1.4 billion package to tour again.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails