The Real Reason ABBA Is Releasing A New Album After 40 Years
Swedish music group ABBA dominated the European music charts after their win at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. The quartet consisted of two married couples — Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson — and gained worldwide fame with their pop songs "Mama Mia" and "Dancing Queen" as well as others. Through the years, though, both marriages started to crack, and the couples eventually divorced (via Express). It was a few years after the demise of the two marriages that ABBA decided to go their separate ways. Their last album "The Visitors" was released in 1981.
All four ABBA members decided to work on their solo projects while on hiatus from the band. Now, 40 years after the release of their last album, ABBA has decided to release new music together. "We took a break in the spring of 1982, and now we've decided it's time to end it. They say it's foolhardy to wait more than 40 years between albums, so we've recorded a follow-up to The Visitors," the band stated in a press release (via NPR).
ABBA's new album and concert
ABBA's newest album titled "Voyage" will debut on November 5. Two new songs have been released ahead of the album launch — "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down" — which are available to stream on the band's official website. Along with their big return, ABBA is preparing for a digital concert to be held at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. According to the band's official statement, per Variety, the upcoming show is "the strangest and most spectacular concert you could ever dream of."
The concert will be nothing short of the ordinary. Digital de-aged avatars were created for the ABBA members using motion-capture technology, and their likeness will then be projected onstage for the concert. According to a report from The Guardian, London Royal Ballet's own Wayne McGregor created the choreography, and a team of 850 people worked on the special effects for the awaited spectacle.
Through the years, all four members have remained good friends, and they said they've been waiting for a while to work with each other again. When asked why they decided to reunite now when they are all in their 70s, Ulvaeus simply answered: "We wanted to do it before we were dead."