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For the first time in 40 years, ABBA is releasing new music. The classic Swedish pop band released their latest album “Voyage” on November 5th.
In September the band (which Cher can count among their true fans) announced the upcoming album, a new “digital” performance, a new look and a music video.
All four of the original members – Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad – returned for the band’s renaissance.
“We took a break in the spring of 1982 and now decided it was time to end it,” said the pop legends in a statement at the time.
ABBA’s new album: “Voyage”
Released on Friday, the band unveiled 10 new songs on “Voyage”.
Two songs, “I Still Have Faith in You” and “Shut Me Down”, are both expected to be heard in the upcoming digital concert and are the band’s first new songs since “Under Attack” in 1982.
You can listen to the new album here.
The band also released a music video for “I Still Have Faith in You” in September, which is full of classic recordings (and ABBA’s anthemic harmonic sounds).
“We just call it ‘Voyage’ and we’re really sailing in uncharted waters,” Andersson said in a statement.
In an interview with the New York Times, Andersson said that they only planned two tracks but kept going.
“We said, ‘Shouldn’t we be writing some other songs just for fun?'” Andersson told the newspaper. “And the girls (Fältskog and Lyngstad) said, ‘Yeah, this will be fun.’ So they came in and we had five songs. And we said, ‘Shouldn’t we do a few more? We can release an album. ‘”
After the album was released on Friday, Andersson added in a statement that they were thrilled to bring the band back together.
“When we got into the studio after 39 years it was like no time had passed … we had a great time,” he said. “I speak to Frida and Agnetha and know that they are very happy to have done this.”
Fältskog repeated his feelings and wrote in a statement that she was surprised that they could so easily return to their old rhythms.
“When we got back together in the studio, I had no idea what to expect … But Benny’s recording studio is such a friendly and safe environment, and before I know it, I was really having fun!” She said. “I can hardly believe that the time has finally come to share this with the world!”
ABBA meets ‘Tron’: A digital performance
Well not exactly. But in the photos released by the band, we see them in motion capture outfits by Industrial Light and Magic, which, when lit, really make us think of the classic science fiction movie “Tron”.
According to the publication, the band members wore these outfits for “weeks and months” and worked with an 850-strong ILM team owned by filmmaker George Lucas.
Why? So they can perform digitally, via avatars, with a 10-member live band in a specially built arena in London. And based on a short video on a Twitter thread by @ABBAVOyage, it looks like fans are watching them … but altered versions that age the 70-year-olds into their younger, more classic versions. After all, it’s been 40 years since they took the stage together, and two years since such a vision was realized in Sarah Pinsker’s award-winning “Song for a New Day” novel.
“What you will see when you get to this show … we are,” says Andersson in the video. That is true and not entirely true at the same time.
In the New York Times article, Andersson also revealed that Ulvaeus had asked for the hair on his “Abbatar” to be changed because, as journalist Elisabeth Vincentelli put it, “someone can only take so much reality in 1979”.
ABBA: The arena
Why go to Las Vegas for a residency when you can have a stage built specifically for your digital you to perform on?
Welcome to the ABBA Arena, the home of # ABBAVOyage📍
You read that right, they are building their own arena! ️👷🏼♀️
A state-of-the-art, purpose-built, 3000-seat arena in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where fans can hear ABBA’s hits and new music. pic.twitter.com/ChIjk1TbeH
– ABBA Voyage (@ABBAVoyage) September 2, 2021
The ABBA Arena will hold 3,000 ticket holders and is a state-of-the-art facility built in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, according to one of several tweets sent as part of the announcement.
“When you get into the arena you will have the four of us together with an absolutely glorious 10-piece band,” Andersson continued in his statement. “And if not in person, we will be right there thanks to the work of the creative team and the ILM.”
Tickets for the “ABBA Voyage” show went on sale in September for shows starting May 27, 2022. You can find links and purchase information here.
In a joint statement, the band said, “To tell the truth, the main inspiration for re-recording comes from our involvement in creating the strangest and most spectacular concert you could ever dream of. We will be able to sit back an audience and watch our digital selves perform our songs on a stage in a specially built arena in London next spring. Strange and wonderful! “
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
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