ABBA makes their big comeback on Friday with a new album, “Voyage”, after 40 years of silence from Swedish disco-pop legends, an opus that delights millions of fans, but divides critics.
Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid, an acronym for ABBA, had not drawn any new titles since their split in late 1982.
The announcement in early September of his return, during a ceremony held in style in various capitals, quickly went around the world, after years of speculation.
And on the night from Thursday to Friday, fans of the group around the world finally discovered the new compositions.
“It doesn’t sound old, it doesn’t sound like 40 years ago“Said Emilie de Laere at a party organized in Stockholm to hear the return of the band.
“Voyage“, Composed of ten songs, is the unexpected result of a project that ABBA has been working on for years: a concert with holograms”revolutionaries”.
A “ABBA Arena”Is under construction in London to host the show from the end of May 2022.
Some points remain a mystery, but one thing is clear: the ABBAs of today will be heard singing, and it is they who will control the movements of their avatars, but they will represent them with their 1979 physique.
It was during the preparation of this project – in collaboration with the special effects company of Star Wars father George Lucas – that the idea of making music together again was born.
In 2018, ABBA had confirmed the rumors of their return to the studios and it was known that they were recording at least two new songs.
“At first it was just two songs, and then we thought, ‘Maybe we could do some more’ and then I asked myself, ‘What if we do a full album?’”Explained Benny Andersson, 74, when the album was announced.
He and Björn Ulvaeus, 76, have been promoting the album in recent weeks, while Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, 71 and 75, respectively, have chosen to stay on the sidelines.
The “ABBA sound”
Three of the ten songs on the album, which is available from midnight local time in all countries of the world, had already been revealed: “I Still Have Faith In You”, “Don’t Shut Me Down” and a modernized version of “Just A Notion”, recorded in 1978 but not released until now.
After “Waterloo”, “Dancing Queen”, “Mamma Mia”, “The Winner Takes It All”, “Money Money Money”, won’t the new album suffer from comparisons to ABBA’s heyday?
Criticisms are divided: some, like Rolling Stone magazine, hail a success “that deserved to be expected”, while The Guardian newspaper launches a cruel “No thank you for the music”, which was one of the band’s hits. .
“We don’t have to prove anything, what does it matter if people think we were better before?”Benny Andersson said in an interview with the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. “If (the album, ndlr) hadn’t been good enough, we wouldn’t have done anything.”
For his Swedish fan Peter Palmquist, it is the perfect mix between yesterday and today. “It’s true to the ABBA sound, but it’s not nostalgic“, said.
And Jean-Marie Potiez, one of the group’s main international experts, assures that “the voices of Agnetha and Anni-Frid have lost their high notes, which is normal given their age, but they have gained in depth and sensitivity.”
“When they sing together, the two of them, like in ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’, it’s the ABBA sound”.
Despite the years and the two divorces – Björn with Agnetha and Benny with Anni-Frid they were married for several years – the four had remained good friends.
“Voyage”, the band’s ninth studio album, will be their last, the two “B’s” confirmed in an interview with The Guardian in late October.
.
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
