ABBA Celebrates Comeback With Studio LP 'Voyage' Released

Nov 05, 2021 by apost team

For the first time in four decades, ABBA, the famous Swedish pop group that dominated the international charts from 1974 to 1983, has released new music. Formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1972, the band became a cultural phenomenon of their time and for the decades that followed. Made up of two men and two women — who happened to be couples, at the time — ABBA's four members are Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who was more commonly known by the nickname Frida. 

To date, ABBA has sold 385 million albums and singles worldwide, which makes them one of the top-selling artists in history. And while they never announced that they were officially breaking up, they ended up going on an indefinite hiatus that saw them begin to focus on solo projects. In the end, they never reunited — that is, until a few years ago when the stirrings of a possible reunion were once again sparked. 

Back in 2016, the quartet was reunited when they all attended a party for "Mamma Mia!" in Stockholm. Later that year, they played together at a private party, before a manager announced that they would be reuniting finally for a "new entertainment experience." 

Fast forward to this summer when the band announced that not only did they have new material but they would be releasing a full-length album titled "Voyage." After delays due to the pandemic, Voyage is finally being released today on Nov. 5. What's more, the band will be performing in an innovative new digital concert event in March next year.

The new album "Voyage" has 10 songs, two of which have already been released to the public — "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down." These were the first new songs from ABBA since their 1981 album "The Visitors" and were released in September. The band also dropped a music video for "I Still Have Faith in You" that included nostalgic footage of them in their younger years. You can listen to "Voyage" here.

In a statement, as reported by Yahoo, the four band members said:

“It’s been a while since we made music together. We took a break in the spring of 1982 and now we’ve decided it’s time to end it.”

In another interview with the New York Times, Andersson revealed that the band only planned to produce two new tracks but kept going after enjoying themselves so much. He said:

“We said, ‘Shouldn’t we write a few other songs, just for fun?' And the girls (Fältskog and Lyngstad) said, ‘Yeah, that will be fun.’ So they came in and we had five songs. And we said, ‘Shouldn’t we do a few others? We can release an album.’”

Thrilled to be back together, now that "Voyage" is out, ABBA has its sights set on their groundbreaking digital concert event next year. Set to be a residency at the so-called ABBA Arena in London, which has a capacity of 3,000, the band will embark on the "ABBA Voyage," while "ABBAtars" — digital holograms of the four band members — will be accompanied by a live 10-piece band. ABBA's website explains:

“Blurring the lines between the physical and digital, see the magic of ABBA brought to life using the latest in motion capture technology."

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