The musicians of the Swedish group ABBA have announced that they are working together again.
During a live broadcast from London on September 2, Bjorn Ulveus and Benny Andersson spoke about the preparations for the new show Voyage: The Concert and the album Voyage: The Album.
After almost 40 years of hiatus, the original line-up of the group - Ulveus, Andersson, Anni-Fried Lingstad and Agneta Feltskog - worked together in the studio.
The artists recorded not only voices and instrumental parts: all their movements were recorded using motion capture technology.
This material will be used in the new show as holograms dubbed ABBA will take the stage.
A special concert hall ABBA Arena is being built especially for the show in London.
The premiere is scheduled for May 27, 2022.
For the concert, 22 songs were selected - mostly the best hits of the group, as well as several compositions that the musicians themselves like.
The setlist also includes new tracks I Still Have Faith in You and Don't Shut Me Down, which were played during the broadcast.
Bjorn Ulveus admitted that for him there was no break in the joint creative activity of the group, and Benny Andresson noted that he was used to going to recording sessions as to work.
The album Voyage: The Album will be released on November 5, 2021.
It will include 10 tracks.
The band will also present a new holiday song for Christmas.
ABBA at the Eurovision Song Contest, 1974
AFP
© Olle Lindeborg / SCANPIX SWEDEN
ABBA was formed in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Sweden.
Bjorn Ulveus and Benny Andersson were the first to start the collaboration, later Agneta Feltskog and Anni-Fried Lingstad joined them.
The composition of the quartet remained unchanged throughout their entire creative career.
In 1973, the ensemble began performing at festivals, and already in 1974 gained worldwide popularity thanks to the victory at Eurovision with the hit Waterloo.
The song took first positions in various charts in the world.
A similar fate was in store for other hits of the collective.
They were popular in Australia, Canada, USA, USSR and other countries of the Old World.
Among the hits of ABBA over the years - The Winner Takes It All, Dancing Queen, Gimme!
Gimme!
Gimme!
(A Man After Midnight), Thank You For The Music, Voulez-Vous, Super Trouper, SOS, Money, Money, Money, Chiquitita and other compositions.
The group members were connected not only by professional, but also by personal relationships.
Bjorn Ulveus was married to Agnete Feltskog from 1971 to 1979, Benny Andersson and Anni-Fried Lingstad were also married from 1978 to 1981.
For some time after the divorce, the musicians still worked together: they released the eighth studio album The Visitors, which included the hit One Of Us, and then a collection of best songs with two new compositions.
However, the new songs did not have the same success.
Andersson and Ulveus, together with the famous playwright Tim Rice ("Jesus Christ Superstar"), began writing the musical "Chess".
Feltskog and Lingstad opted for a solo career.
The band members announced the breakup of the band at the end of 1982.
The event was presented as a break in creativity, and the musicians did not rule out that someday they would get together again.
ABBA Group
globallookpress.com
The premiere of "Chess" took place in 1984, and in 1995 the tandem of Ulveus and Anderson presented the musical "Christina of Duvemola" in Swedish based on the works of the writer Wilhelm Muberg.
By the late 1990s, the composers co-wrote the musical Mamma Mia!
based on the popular songs of the four.
The first show took place in London's West End in 1999, then the performance was presented at various venues around the world.
In 2008, a film was shot based on the musical with Amanda Seyfred and Meryl Streep, and ten years later its sequel was released.
The musicians themselves performed cameo roles in both films.
In addition, Benny Andersson formed his own group BAO (Benny Andersson's Orkester - "Benny Anderson's Orchestra"), in which he recorded several records.
In 2017, the artist presented a collection of piano music Piano, which included instrumental interpretations of hits from different years.
Annie-Fried Lingstad released solo albums back in the 1970s.
In 1982, her third album Something's Going On was released, the title track from which entered the top twenty of the Billboard Hot 100. Later, the artist recorded two more albums, and also collaborated with other musicians: Philippe Giordano, John Lord (Deep Purple), Mauro Scocco and by his group Ratata.
Agneta Feltskog also recorded selected works during the ABBA era, which were popular in Sweden.
From 1983 to 1987, the performer managed to release three solo albums that fell in love with the European audience.
However, by the 1990s, she began to appear less often in public space.
In 1996, the autobiography of the singer As I Am was published.
In 2004, Feltskog returned with a cover album, My Coloring Book.
She also took part in the promotion of the musical Mamma Mia !.
In 2013, the performer presented new songs for the first time since 1987 - ten tracks, written mainly by Swedish songwriter Jorgen Elofsson, compiled an album called A.
In 2010, ABBA entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The musicians did not celebrate this event with a joint performance, but gathered for the 50th anniversary of the joint creative activity of Bjorn Ulveus and Benny Andersson in 2016 in Stockholm.