A leftover by aging Swedes
Some wobbly vocals are cruelly exposed on early tracks of anticipated new album
Voyage Abba Universal
It may be the most anticipated reunion in pop history, but Abba's comeback single is a bit of a damp squib. The title I Still Have Faith In You suggests a statement of intent, but the album it heralds is going to have to do considerably better to reward that faith.
Bjorn Ulvaeus said the first time he heard Benny Andersson's melody, he knew “it had to be about us.” Unfortunately, the best the hitmaking duo could come up with is a sentimental power ballad that tries to coast by on emotions inspired by their unlikely septuagenarian reunion.
Forty years is a long time in pop music. When we first heard Abba was getting back together, the big question was whether they would reconnect with the vitality of their glory days, attempt to bridge a connection with contemporary pop or embrace their advanced years to bring the Abba brand into mature old age.
I Still Have Faith In You attempts maturity, and fails.
Over gloopy strings, a frail vocal from Anni-frid Lyngstad asks “do I have it in me?” It's a leading question her fragile singing doesn't convincingly answer. The melody coasts sweetly along, but this is the middle of the road singalong Abba of I Have A Dream rather than the super-powered pop of Waterloo and Dancing Queen. Drums come in exactly where you would expect them, with Agnetha Faltskog's harmonies swelling the vocals into something Abbaesque.
It aspires to epic dimensions as the four give themselves a vote of confidence, proclaiming “we do have it in us!” Yet no amount of video CGI magic could make this sound modern, or original. It is slick and professional, but sounds like a leftover from a
West End musical performed by a group of Swedish old age pensioners rather than a longlost classic.
A second song, Don't Shut Me Down, is marginally more promising, although still beset by wobbly vocals cruelly exposed in the opening bars. The others kick in with some energy, but a plodding bass groove evokes the German schlager music of Abba's origins rather than their latter-day disco sophistication. The verse is catchy and chorus is catchier, but it lacks the bittersweet tension of an Abba classic. Maybe after a few more plays its incipient earworm qualities will reveal themselves, but this would struggle to get airspace on pop radio let alone win the Eurovision.
Nevertheless, you would be a fool to write off this reunion. Benny and Bjorn are immense talents, and people sometimes forget that Abba's catalogues contained duds alongside their classic hits. But on this evidence, this is not so much a case of Abba being Bjorn again as thank you for the music, and good night.