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 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 come out on Nov. 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" - on
Thursday.
"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' and then I asked 'why don't we do a
full album?'"
The recording went smoothly, co-songwriter Bjorn
Ulvaeus said. "It all came rushing back in a
matter of seconds."
"I knew when Benny played the melody it just had
to be about us," he added about "I Still Have
Faith In You". The new album will also include a
Christmas song "Little Things".
"ABBATARS"
The concerts will be held at a purpose-built
ABBA Arena in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic
Park in May, and 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 series
- 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.
The concerts will feature 22 songs, including
the two new numbers and a "sort of a greatest
hits" compilation, including "Dancing Queen", he
added.
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 Ulvaeus said ABBA had chosen
London because the group felt welcome there.
"Somehow, we have always felt that the Brits see
us as their own - it feels like that when we
come here every time," he said.
Faltskog and Lyngstad did not speak during the
streamed launch.
In a statement Faltskog said she had not known
what to expect when they got back together to
record. "But Benny’s recording studio is such a
friendly and safe environment, and before I knew
it I was really enjoying myself."
ABBA was founded in the early 70s 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".
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 one reported $1 billion
package to tour again.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander and Simon Johnson;
Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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