Here they go again! The Swedish pop quartet, ABBA, is releasing new songs after a four-decade hiatus. However, this would be the group’s swan song.
The forthcoming album, “Voyage,” is expected to drop on November 5.
ABBA says that this album is a follow-up to their 1981’s, ”The Visitors,” and also would serve as the supergroups’ ‘final bow’.
“We took a break in the spring of 1982 and now we’ve decided it’s time to end it,” ABBA said in a statement on Thursday.
FUTURISTIC CONCERT IN LONDON
On top of the album release, they would also be performing it in a virtual concert which will be held at a purpose-built ABBA Arena in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on May 27.
ABBA’s pianist, Benny Andersson, detailed that the concerts will feature 22 songs, including the two new numbers and a “sort of a greatest hits” compilation.
The group has been working closely with, Star Wars creator, George Lucas and his special-effects company, Industrial Light & Magic to create the holographic live show.
The “abbatars” (a play on the words ABBA and avatars) were created using motion-capture technology 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 group’s guitarist, Bjorn Ulvaeus, said ABBA had chosen London as the group felt welcome there.
“Somehow, we have always felt that the Brits see us like their own — it feels like that when we come here every time,” he said.
In a statement, the group’s vocalist, Agnetha 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,” she said.
For years, rumours circulated that ABBA would get back together, but the members turned down many offers.
The planned show spurred the making of the album, which features the new songs “I Still Have Faith In You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down.”
It began with sessions in 2018 and was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
