MAMMA MIA! Here we go again
ABBA are set to release two new songs for the first time in 35 years.
The Swedish band, famed for hits including Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen and Take A Chance On Me, confirmed yesterday that they have returned to the recording studio.
Their first track, I Still Have Faith In You, is scheduled for release in December.
The group, formed of two married couples, Agnetha Faltskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus, and Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, won the Eurovision song contest with Waterloo in 1974 and went on to become one of the most popular in history, selling hundreds of millions of albums worldwide.
In 1982 they announced they were on a “break” following the demise of both marriages. They finally called it a day in 1983.
The band said their getting back together was a consequence of the decision 18 months ago to put on a “virtual reality tour” next year.
Exciting
The songs will be performed by digital avatars of the group in their 1970s heyday.
An official statement on Instagram said: “The decision to go ahead with the exciting avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence. We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did.
“And it was like time had stood still and that we had only been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”
The news sent fans into a social media frenzy. Fan Moa Hoijer tweeted: “OMG! New music from Abba. Stop everything” while Kieran Shiach wrote: “Can’t help but think the end of the Korean war and the return of Abba on the same day are somehow linked.”
Bookmaker Coral immediately offered odds of 10-1 for any new Abba single to top the UK charts.
Earlier this week Bjorn, 72, revealed the process behind the creation of the “Abbatars” and said the younger versions were chosen because “we looked pretty good” back then.
He added: “They photographed us from all possible angles, made us grimace in front of cameras, painted dots on our faces and measured our heads. Apparently a cranium doesn’t change with age the way the rest of your body falls apart.”
The singer said there was an “existential dimension” to the project, as the band explored the idea of being young again – “the wisdom that we hopefully possess now in combination with the youth of the Abbatars.”
Bjorn had previously ruled out a reunion, saying: “It would be such enormous hassle. You cannot imagine the tension. It would be like robbing yourself of perhaps two or three years out of your life when I could be paddling on my surf ski instead. There’s a choice.”
If the virtual tour succeeds the technology could allow other artists to stage concerts anywhere in the world without leaving their homes.