"We do have it in us!": ABBA returns with first album in 40 years

Stockholm, Sweden - Fans of legendary Swedish pop band ABBA couldn't wait one more minute to get their hands on the band's first album released in 40 years, with many lined up at stores as clocks struck midnight late on Thursday.

The announcement of ABBA Voyage took place in early September, with fans patiently awaiting the new music.
The announcement of ABBA Voyage took place in early September, with fans patiently awaiting the new music.  © IMAGO/TT

Voyage, the new album, is available as of Friday on CD, vinyl and – in keeping with the '70s revival – also on music cassette.

The first fans have already expressed their love for the new music on social media.

The album features the previously released songs, I Still Have Faith In You, Don't Shut Me Down, and Just A Notion – which dropped in early September – as well as seven more songs by Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad.

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The fact that Voyage contains typical ABBA music with catchy melodies can hardly be ignored in the new recordings, as well as in I Still Have Faith In You.

In the song that kicks off the new album, the band appropriately asks, "Do I have it in me?" only to answer confidently, "We do have it in us!"

Based on the title of the song, one can say: ABBA still believe in themselves and their music even 40 years after the phenomenon of "Abbamania."

Their die-hard fans feel the same.

ABBA members (from l to r) Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fõltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and Benny Andersson make up one of the most successful music acts in history.
ABBA members (from l to r) Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fõltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and Benny Andersson make up one of the most successful music acts in history.  © IMAGO/Allstar

ABBA's Voyage continues the band's legacy

Band member Benny Andersson in the studio ahead of the release of the new ABBA album, Voyage.
Band member Benny Andersson in the studio ahead of the release of the new ABBA album, Voyage.  © IMAGO/TT

The second song on the new album, the atmospheric When You Danced With Me, has an Irish flavor. Yet it is unmistakably ABBA-esque thanks to the voices of Faltskog and Lyngstad.

Little Things, on the other hand, is a Christmas song that celebrates life's little gifts.

The track is followed by the already well-known Don't Shut Me Down and Just A Notion, the latter a song that ABBA had already recorded in 1978, but then discarded when compiling the album Super Trouper.

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Shortly before the end of the Voyage, No Doubt About It puts you in a good mood, before the Ode To Freedom – which one critic said evokes Giuseppe Verdi – ends the highly-anticipated new collection of tunes.

Voyage is the ninth studio album for the quartet from the far north of Europe, and the first since The Visitors, which was released in November 1981.

After a last TV appearance at the end of 1982, ABBA announced that it was breaking up as the band that once consisted of two couples, who have also since romantically separated.

Their success ultimately lasted for decades after eight studio albums and iconic worldwide hits like Waterloo, Mamma Mia, SOS, and Dancing Queen, among many others. They rose to face in 1974 after winning the Eurovision Song Contest.

Since then, there have been numerous compilations of the pop group's greatest hits but no complete album with fresh studio recordings - until now.

The band members are now all in their 70s: Ulvaeus turned 76 this year, Lyngstad 75, Andersson 74, and Faltskog 71.

The songs released in September have already been streamed more than 40 million times on Spotify.

The next big ABBA project is arriving next year. A multimedia show called ABBA Voyage will feature virtual images of the band members – so-called "Abbatars" – appearing on stage with a live 10-piece band.

The show will play seven times a week in a custom-built arena in London beginning the end of May 2022.

Cover photo: Collage: IMAGO/TT & Allstar

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