A Swedish pop band releases some new material

September 2, 2021 11:45 AM

ABBA, a band who have previously charted several times, will release a new album, Voyage, in November. Two tracks are available now: I Still Have Faith In You, and Don't Shut Me Down. There will also [knitwear] be a virtual concert next year. The quartet, comprising Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad (better known as Frida), Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus, won a singing contest in 1974.
posted by Wordshore (65 comments total)

Thank you for the music.
posted by one for the books at 12:51 PM on September 2, 2021 [12 favorites]

They're dead serious about the whole "if I had to do the same again, I would, my friend" business.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:55 PM on September 2, 2021 [10 favorites]

Mamma Mia. I didn't know I needed this.
posted by indianbadger1 at 12:59 PM on September 2, 2021 [3 favorites]

Honey, they’re still free.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:11 PM on September 2, 2021 [3 favorites]

"De-aged digital avatars" created by Industrial Light & Magic, okay, concerts via virtual residency, stay safe and whatnot, but: Forty years after the bitter songs written in the wake of two band divorces for their last album, 1981’s The Visitors, the Swedish pop quartet have reunited for Voyage, an album of brand new songs that will be released on 5 November – including, they say, a Christmas song.

A CHRISTMAS SONG
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:12 PM on September 2, 2021 [7 favorites]

I wonder what happen to change their absolute refusal to tour again? It's not money, as they could have earned hundreds of millions since they broke up.
posted by Beholder at 1:17 PM on September 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

One of the guys, either Benny or Björn, was quoted somewhere regarding an ABBA reunion -- "people don't really want an ABBA reunion, they just want to be 17 again".

(Can't find the exact quote at the moment....)
posted by gimonca at 2:10 PM on September 2, 2021 [15 favorites]

As first singles these are… not great. Needs more upbeat on both of them, more energy.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 3:15 PM on September 2, 2021 [5 favorites]

Holy forking shirtballs! Who'd've thought ABBA would step forth to save the world?
posted by jjderooy at 4:00 PM on September 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

It's so sweet that this nice group of old folks have put out another little recording. It just warms my heart.
posted by evilDoug at 4:05 PM on September 2, 2021 [5 favorites]

Holy Uncanny Valley, Batman!
posted by signal at 4:08 PM on September 2, 2021 [3 favorites]

Who’s up for a Metafilter meetup release party?
posted by Melismata at 4:25 PM on September 2, 2021 [4 favorites]

> "De-aged digital avatars"

Abbatars.
posted by Pronoiac at 4:38 PM on September 2, 2021 [49 favorites]

I've been waiting for you.
posted by octomato at 5:07 PM on September 2, 2021 [2 favorites]

Agnetha and Frida sound great. And a whole new album, wow!
posted by jabah at 5:25 PM on September 2, 2021 [2 favorites]

It's funny, but I had no sense of living without aim
The day before these came
posted by Capt. Renault at 5:32 PM on September 2, 2021 [2 favorites]

This makes me so happy.
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 5:43 PM on September 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

First listening — not bad. Ask me again after 40,000 more listenings like the others.
posted by Capt. Renault at 5:46 PM on September 2, 2021 [2 favorites]

Admittedly I've been ABBAstarved for 40 years, but "I Still Have Faith in You" is beautiful and made me cry.
posted by Doug Holland at 5:50 PM on September 2, 2021 [3 favorites]

They sing the way old friends do, like an angel passing through my room. People need love, but at least we're getting new music. I want the whole album now, I do I do I do I do I do.
posted by lhauser at 6:12 PM on September 2, 2021 [2 favorites]

As first singles these are… not great. Needs more upbeat on both of them, more energy.

I dug the wistful vibe of I Still Have Faith In You.
posted by fairmettle at 7:19 PM on September 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

I have strong feelings about this, but I am not sure what they are yet.

I liked the songs on first listen, but will have to listen more.

I've been overly fond of ABBA for a very long time. Very very very very very long time. So let me sit with this for a bit.
posted by hippybear at 8:07 PM on September 2, 2021 [3 favorites]

Needs more ABBA.
posted by clavdivs at 8:12 PM on September 2, 2021 [3 favorites]

I can only think the reason for the avatars and stuff is that Agnetha has been very uninterested in being a public person for decades, and maybe with this technology she feels safe without the crowds and behind a mask. That's my best guess, really.
posted by hippybear at 8:14 PM on September 2, 2021 [4 favorites]

Holy forking shirtballs! Who'd've thought ABBA would step forth to save the world?

I dunno...I mean, yesterday I wasn't thinking "ABBA will step forth and save the world," but now that it's happened I kind of feel like "Yes...of course, of course they would. I should have known it all along. I should have had faith."
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:42 PM on September 2, 2021 [8 favorites]

I've been overly fond of ABBA for a very long time. Very very very very very long time.

Their compilation, ABBA Gold, is currently at #14 on the UK Album Top 100 Charts. It's been in these charts for 1,008 weeks.
posted by Wordshore at 9:15 PM on September 2, 2021 [7 favorites]

I bought The Album on release day on vinyl (what else at that point in time?) after getting Waterloo as a gift and then buying Arrival with my allowance money and then learning that The Album was coming out and saving up to get that. Reserved my copy at my local record store in advance, got a phone call, etc.

I was 9.
posted by hippybear at 9:20 PM on September 2, 2021 [7 favorites]

For the full effect, the band should go and round up all the original critics who wrote about how uncool they were, from their respective nursing homes, so they can be sniffy about their new material too.
posted by rongorongo at 12:03 AM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

No need. There will be legions of younger critics being dismissive. That's the job. Those who enjoy ABBA can continue to do so regardless.
posted by Bella Donna at 3:46 AM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

I have never been a fan, but it doesn't matter... I'm very glad to see older people do what they enjoy and what brings joy to others. So this is happy-making news to me. Thanks for posting!
posted by Too-Ticky at 4:51 AM on September 3, 2021 [4 favorites]

My boyfriend listened to his first ABBA album front to back the day before this announcement was made. I blame him for waking the Swedes.

His comment: "I really don't like ABBA, but 'Waterloo' is a bop'"
posted by pxe2000 at 5:09 AM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

Wordshore, hats off for the delightful post. I am delighted by the news and by this post in equal measure.
posted by sldownard at 5:16 AM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

Maybe they did it for Money, Money, Money.
posted by Melismata at 6:00 AM on September 3, 2021 [1 favorite]

Maybe they did it for Money, Money, Money.

And yet I will Thank [Them] For the (new) Music.

Even their sad songs have always elevated a bad mood. This is the most delightful news.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:30 AM on September 3, 2021 [5 favorites]

I've been a huge huge fan since I first heard them in 1980. I don't know yet how I feel about these two new tracks, but I'm pretty sure they would have benefitted from Rutger Gunnarsson.
posted by Slothrup at 6:48 AM on September 3, 2021 [1 favorite]

This means we don't talk about that puppet video anymore, right?
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:35 AM on September 3, 2021 [3 favorites]

Here they go again....

(It's funny to me how Billy Joel and ABBA, basically contemporaries, get such vastly different reactions.)
posted by basalganglia at 9:15 AM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

Maybe they did it for Money, Money, Money.

ABBA turned down one billion dollars in 2000 to reform and tour.

They did it now because they wanted to. The best possible reason.
posted by rory at 11:23 AM on September 3, 2021 [6 favorites]

As a young kid, I fell in love with the "Take a Chance on Me" 45 rpm record and played it so much that one day it disappeared. My mom said, "Sorry, you left it out and I accidentally ran over it with the vacuum sweeper." So I bought it again and it disappeared again. "Sorry, you left it out and the dog scratched it up and broke it." Decades afterward, someone pointed out to me that my mom was gaslighting me.

At a party in high school, I put my Abba cassette tape into the player and Dancing Queen started. All the guys got super aggressive and hateful. "Who put that shit on? WHO?!" I never shared my musical interests with anyone else after that. Being an ABBA fan in the USA was not easy.

Well, I'm still here, and ABBA's still here, releasing a new album. Good news hasn't completely gone obsolete.
posted by jabah at 11:45 AM on September 3, 2021 [8 favorites]

As a young kid, I fell in love with the "Take a Chance on Me" 45 rpm record and played it so much that one day it disappeared. My mom said, "Sorry, you left it out and I accidentally ran over it with the vacuum sweeper."

A college roommate once played my cassette of _Brothers_In_Arms_ so often that I had to accidentally destroy it. Do you know how hard it is to damage a cassette "accidentally"? I finally gave up and just threw it away. He ended up buying his own copy.
posted by Slothrup at 12:34 PM on September 3, 2021 [1 favorite]

Being an ABBA fan in the USA was not easy.

MY PEOPLE!!

I was 10 years old when I bought Voulez-Vous. Inside the sleeve was a flyer for their US tour, which ... had happened a few months before. Rats, I thought, maybe they'll tour again some time.

Yes, the shame in the US over liking ABBA was considerable at that time. (And to top it off, I was supposed to like the B-52s and Pink Floyd as well.) I learned quickly to never tell anyone and would go home alone and sing songs from "Arrival" in front of the mirror.
posted by Melismata at 2:47 PM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

Take A Chance On Me is quite a jam (Bjorn wrote it during jogging because he did that, and so that's why it has that momentum)... But for my money, it's The Name Of The Game. There's just something about how that song is built that really lands hard with me, in the best way.
posted by hippybear at 6:01 PM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

This means we don't talk about that puppet video anymore, right?

Nope, I find those uncanny valley puppets delightful as well. I would love them to do another video using the puppets and new material.

I shared the news of the release (and glee) of a new ABBA album with my team at our meeting this morning. One colleague reminded me that ABBA was from “our parents generation”. The second had never heard of the band. The third spent the next hour working ABBA song titles into his comments, which honestly was the greatest thing ever and left me in tears of laughter by the end of the hour.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 7:19 PM on September 3, 2021 [6 favorites]

We had their Greatest Hits album on 8-track when I was a kid. It played heavily in our car trip rotation.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:36 PM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

We had their Greatest Hits album on 8-track when I was a kid.

Oh if you had the 8-track, you didn't know about the gatefold photo of the full park bench. It's the full band, and it's both funny and heartbreaking.
posted by hippybear at 7:41 PM on September 3, 2021 [4 favorites]

My boyfriend listened to his first ABBA album front to back the day before this announcement was made. I blame him for waking the Swedes.

His comment: "I really don't like ABBA, but 'Waterloo' is a bop'"

Honestly, as an album enthusiast, I give him major kudos for liking one song by a band but listening to the entire album to have the full context!
posted by hippybear at 9:08 PM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

I'm excited to listen to these. I was down on Abba when I was young, I think largely because I have a younger sister who played the greatest hits album incessantly. It was literally the only music she listened to. My parents put up with it because it made her happy, and she has a whole bunch of developmental and cognitive issues. As a confused, repressed, queer, trans, probably autistic 8-16 year old, I did not have that patience.

My high school girlfriend convinced me to take her to see the Mama Mia musical,l when I was 18, and I really enjoyed it. A few months later, we both went to university, and split up (easily for the best for both of us) and I didn't think much about Abba for years.

Then at the start of last year I got a job in a warehouse, picking and packing bras. The radio was on all day. They played two stations, alternating weeks. One week was a modern pop station, playing about five songs a day on repeat, with lots of inane banter and call-ins. This was the station the younger workers always argued for, younger meaning anyone under forty. There were a few songs they played that I didn't hate. The first three dozen times. I quickly grew to hate them all.

The other weeks, which were always a joy, they had some classic number ones station, and while there were some artists that would come up every day, they at least played a variety of their songs, and you'd only hear each song once a day at most. 70s, 80s, and 90s hits. This station was beloved of my older colleagues (40+, mostly 50+) and me. Abba were one of the daily bands, and I really came to love their broad catalogue of hits, their energy, instrumentation, bass playing... They are just good!

I now have several albums. The self-titled is a clear favourite, for its absolutely bizarre cavalcade of musical non-sequiturs. Each track is a different genre, from svensktop through Slade to disco funk. There's a lot more to Abba than the hits! But the hits alone make them one of the all-time greats.

Now to go listen to these new songs. Thanks for the post!
posted by Dysk at 11:32 PM on September 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

This is the future I deserve.
posted by mazola at 10:55 AM on September 4, 2021 [2 favorites]

I read an interview with Benny & Bjorn saying they weren't trying to be current, that they don't know how to write today's kind of pop songs...

but I really think they'd do themselves well if they gave out tracks to major producers for remixes. Get some ABBA in the club scene, etc. I'd totally buy that album or those tracks, too.
posted by hippybear at 12:06 PM on September 4, 2021 [4 favorites]

My cousin's son claimed to have never heard "any Abba at all" his "whole life". He was firm and unmoving on this.

A little later in the conversation, I asked him what he thought of Madonna's "Hung Up". "Oh, yeah", he replied. "Banging tune. Played it endlessly."
posted by Wordshore at 1:27 PM on September 4, 2021 [3 favorites]

It just occurred to me... this is Duran Duran's 40th anniversary year, and ABBA has been gone for 40 years.. so this is only the second year they've ever released albums together.
posted by hippybear at 9:59 PM on September 4, 2021 [2 favorites]

I've listened to the songs now! They didn't blow me away, but I do like them. Don't Shut Me Down sounds more like classic Abba to me, but the melodic/vocal phrases all feel kinda... truncated?

Give it a few more listens and they'll both grow on me, I think. The arrangements are great, and Agnetha and Annifrid can still really sing.
posted by Dysk at 1:59 AM on September 5, 2021

The group – Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Björn Ulvaeus – have also announced a new concert experience in London, also called Voyage, beginning in May 2022. Digital versions of themselves (not holograms, their team asserted) will appear nightly alongside a 10-piece live band at a new 3,000-capacity venue in the city’s Olympic park, called the Abba Arena. Tickets go on general sale on Tuesday 7 September. From The Guardian.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:40 PM on September 6, 2021

(Apologies, I missed the concert reference in the FPP. I am not worthy.)
posted by Bella Donna at 1:41 PM on September 6, 2021

> buying Arrival with my allowance money

The first tape I bought was their Greatest Hits Vol 2. I also was probably nine.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:20 PM on September 6, 2021

So, I found this album sort of randomly, and it's pretty good. I've only heard it through once, but it was good enough to put here: Nils Landgren Funk Unit - Funky ABBA [YT playlist]
posted by hippybear at 8:11 PM on September 7, 2021

Gotta say — I wasn’t blown away upon first listening, but man, ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ is an insidious track, parking itself nicely into my subconscious and insisting that I keep coming back. This is the ABBA I know.
posted by Capt. Renault at 8:57 PM on September 7, 2021 [2 favorites]

‘I Still Have Faith In You’ is an insidious track, parking itself nicely into my subconscious

Do you have it in you?
posted by hippybear at 9:16 PM on September 7, 2021 [1 favorite]

And wow, I just read the lyrics from Don't Shut Me Down (after listening to it several times and not getting them all), and that 1) feels like Agneta talking very specifically, and 2) also feels a bit like the band saying "hey, we're back, it's been a while, give us a chance".

Both songs are very eloquent, and feel very much like the ABBA we were seeing more and more as the years passed.

Also, I Still Have Faith In You has a total Benny Andersson's Orkester arrangement. I mean that as a compliment, but again wow!
posted by hippybear at 9:24 PM on September 7, 2021 [3 favorites]

I was shocked by this as I figured they would never get together again. Back in the 90s weren't they offered a billion dollars to simply go on tour again and they all immediately rejected the offer? I'm not particularly motivated by money but if I was offered 250 million to spend a year on tour with people I didn't like that much I'd do it if for no other reason to be able to donate money to organizations I wish had more support.
posted by drstrangelove at 4:05 AM on September 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

It was for a tour of 250 shows in 100 cities. 250 shows, singing songs with your ex- about why you bitterly divorced, is perhaps not that attractive. And, even with the best Stockholm accountants and lawyers money can buy, a large chunk of the money would have been handed over in various Swedish taxes.

The (reunited) members of ABBA get their post-initial-career incomes from other sources, such as the royalties from Mamma Mia!, and um the inheritance from marrying a prince(!)
posted by Wordshore at 9:18 AM on September 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Re: touring. Aside from her well-known stage fright, Agnetha Fältskog's fear of flying significantly worsened in October 1979, after ABBA's Boston-bound tour plane encountered Connecticut's Windsor Locks Tornado. The plane, short on fuel, was forced to make an emergency landing. The bizarre, costly, F4-category tornado ("207-260 mph winds") injured more than 500 people and caused three deaths. Fältskog would switch to bus travel for her solo performance schedule... and in 1983, survived a highway accident in Sweden.

"singing songs with your ex- about why you bitterly divorced"

I was in your arms / Thinking I belonged there. [...] But I was a fool playing by the rules.
[...]
But tell me, does she kiss / Like I used to kiss you? Does it feel the same when she calls your name?
[...]
I apologise / If it makes you feel bad / Seeing me so tense, no self-confidence.

-- from The Winner Takes it All, lyrics written by Fältskog's ex Björn Ulvaeus after their split. Original song title: The Story of My Life.
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:06 PM on September 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

This thread is probably going to close before I get my copy of the album to have an opinion about here on the Blue! *pouts*
posted by hippybear at 9:52 PM on September 23, 2021

Also, I carry a horrible ABBA factoid around in my head, I think largely because I was driving overnight delivery routes at the time and was listening to BBC World Service live on local public radio in the middle of the night when the news came across: ABBA drummer [Ola Brunkert] found dead.

I work in a glass replacement business. This little thing is stuck in my head and doesn't let go, and is a bit of a constant vigilance signal for me.
posted by hippybear at 9:57 PM on September 23, 2021

Also, holy crap, is I Have Faith In You sort of a bitter song or what?

Sorry, relistening to these two songs is sort of Bringing Things Up For Me tonight.

I suspect when the album is actually released my co-workers (upon whom I subject music from time to time) will find me a bit obnoxious.

What I'm wondering is, really... is this album coming out going to Break The Internet the way I think it might? ABBA is still selling, like, 3 million albums a year world-wide. Add Mamma Mia fans into that, and you've got a not-insignificant percentage of the planet who has potential buy-in for this.
posted by hippybear at 10:30 PM on September 23, 2021