ABBA didn’t show “any nerves” during the first recording of their new album ‘Voyage’.
The ‘Waterloo’ hitmakers – comprised of Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad – are set to release their first album in 40 years on November 1 but, despite the pressure to pull out a showstopping comeback, they weren’t riddled with anxiety when they stepped back into the studio for the first time as a foursome.
Benny’s son Ludvig – who will help produce the upcoming shows – told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “They were just incredible. They were doing it for themselves because they thought that if they didn’t like it at the end of the day, they wouldn’t play it to anyone.
“I didn’t see any nerves. It was as if they had just walked out the door from 1979 and back in 40 years later.
“There was never a moment where they actually said, ‘Okay, we’re never doing this again.”
The legendary band have also announced plans for a revolutionary comeback concert which will see them performing digitally with a live 10-piece band.
The ‘Thank You For The Music’ hitmakers have teamed up with an 850-strong team from Industrial Light & Magic – the company founded by George Lucas – to create digital versions of themselves for the concert, using months of motion-capture and performance techniques.
ABBA’s ‘Voyage’ concert experience will open on May 27 2022 at the ABBA Arena, which is a state-of-the-art 3,000 capacity arena located at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
The concert will feature ABBA’s two new tracks, ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ and ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’, as well as songs from their upcoming album. Producers Svana Gisla and Ludvig said in a statement: “The magic of ABBA and the herculean efforts of this whole magnificent team reaches a long-awaited milestone today. To be able to finally share this endeavour with the world is a proud moment for us and we can’t wait to welcome you to our arena in East London, a place where we are so happy to be.”
While Baillie Walsh, the director of the concert, added: “I watched ABBA win the Eurovision song contest in 1974, and never did I imagine that 47 years later I would be with them on this extraordinary voyage. Life is weird and wonderful sometimes.”