ABBA Back After 40 Years With New Album, Announces Virtual Stage Show
ABBA is releasing its first new music in four decades, along with a concert performance that will see the “Dancing Queen” quartet going entirely digital.
ABBA
is
releasing
its
first
new
music
in
four
decades,
along
with
a
concert
performance
that
will
see
the
“Dancing
Queen”
quartet
going
entirely
digital.
The
forthcoming
album
“Voyage," to
be
released
Nov.
5,
is
a
follow-up
to
1981's
“The
Visitors,”
which
until
now
had
been
the
swan
song
of
the
Swedish
supergroup.
And
a
virtual
version
of
the
band
will
begin
a
series
of
concerts
in
London
on
May
27.
“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
Thursday.
“They
say
it's
foolhardy
to
wait
more
than
40
years
between
albums,
so
we've
recorded
a
follow-up
to
'The
Visitors.'”
The
group
has
been
creating
the
live
show
with
George
Lucas'
special-effects
company,
Industrial
Light
&
Magic.
They
say
the
virtual
versions
of
themselves
are
“weird
and
wonderful,”
and
go
beyond
holograms.
“It
was
suggested
to
us
that
we
could
go
on
tour
as
a
hologram.
And
this
is
now
four,
five
years
ago," Björn
Ulvaeus,
ABBA's
76-year-old
guitarist,
backup
singer
and
co-songwriter
said
at
a
news
conference
Thursday.
“And
we
found
out
very
soon
that
that
wasn't
even
possible
because
holograms
is
an
old
technology,
but
I
mean,
the
vision
was
there
of
having
our
digital
selves,
that
even
was
a
possibility.”
“And
also,”
said
Benny
Andersson,
74,
who
plays
keyboards,
sings
and
writes
songs
with
Ulvaeus,
“we
want
to
do
it
before
we
were
dead.”
Ulvaeus
added,
”it's
good
if
you
do
that
before
you
dead.
Because
it
gets
more
accurate
then.”
They
sang
and
played
together
for
hours
every
day
for
weeks,
using
motion
capture
and
other
techniques
to
create
the
22-song,
approximately
90-minute
show.
“We
dressed
up
in
a
leotards
with
dots
or
little
things
on
them,”
Ulvaeus
said.
“And
we
had
dots
in
our
faces
and
helmets
with
cameras.
And
there
we
were,
the
four
of
us
on
stage
together
doing
these
songs.”
They
say
it
was
hard
work
but
a
great
pleasure,
but
for
one
thing.
“I'd
say
the
only
big
problem
was
that
we
had
to
shave
our
beards,”
Andersson
said.
"I've
had
my
beard
for
50
years.”
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.
“It
was
so
joyful
to
be
together
in
the
studio
again,
the
four
of
us,”
Andersson
said."
The
show
will
come
50
years
after
the
founding
of
the
group
that
consisted
of
two
married
couples
for
most
of
its
existence,
and
whose
name
is
an
acronym
of
the
first
names
of
its
members,
Agnetha
Fältskog,
71,
Anni-Frid
Lyngstad,
75,
Ulvaeus
and
Andersson.
Their
music
has
remained
ubiquitous
in
the
decades
since
their
breakup,
in
part
because
of
the
stage
musical
“Mamma
Mia!”
and
the
two
films
that
followed
it.
They
were
inducted
into
the
Rock
and
Roll
Hall
of
Fame
in
2010.
Last
week
the
group
launched
a
website
with
the
title
“ABBA
Voyage,”
teasing
the
new
announcement.
Tickets
go
on
sale
Tuesday.