ABBA Is Back After 40 Years Of Hiatus, Along With Holographic Twins
Image via ID 160621420 © Buurserstraat386 | Dreamstime.com
For the first time in more than four decades, beloved Swedish pop group ABBA has come back. And the quartet comes bearing gifts: new music.
It’s not just one or two songs, either: it’s a full album. Titled Voyage, it’s said that the 10-track offering will be a follow-up to the 1981 hit album The Visitors. New songs are planned to include titles such as I Still Have Faith In You and Don't Shut Me Down.
“We took a break in the spring of 1982 and now we've decided it's time to end it,” the group declared. The album will make its highly-anticipated introduction into the world on November 5.
We are on our way back! Thank you for waiting.#ABBAVoyage is the concert we've always wanted to perform for our fans. The journey is about to begin!
— ABBA Voyage (@ABBAVoyage) September 2, 2021
Pre-order @ABBA’s new album ‘Voyage’, out 5th November, for access to the exclusive ticket pre-sales.https://t.co/erjJHNSIqS pic.twitter.com/xLh6wWL5z7
Celebrating this comeback, the group will also be carrying out a revolutionary concert that will see the four group members going entirely digital. This holographic show was conceptualized with George Lucas’ special-effects company, Industrial Light & Magic.
Motion capture details the movements of the ‘abbatars’ to create “the strangest and most spectacular concert you could ever dream of,” as described by the members of the group themselves.
The group will appear onstage again for the first time after decades, looking just like they did in 1979—as though they never left in the first place.
What do you think of the new look everyone?
— ABBA Voyage (@ABBAVoyage) September 2, 2021
💥 @ABBA are back with #ABBAVoyage, a brand-new album and revolutionary concert 💥
For the concert, the band have been digitised using state-of-the-art motion capture technology, designed by @ILMVFX! https://t.co/erjJHNSIqS pic.twitter.com/PRV2Ww1qqC
“We dressed up in leotards with dots or little things on them,” recalled Björn Ulvaeus in the news conference. “We had dots in our faces and helmets with cameras. And there we were, the four of us on stage together doing these songs.”
No comeback would be complete without new music!
— ABBA Voyage (@ABBAVoyage) September 2, 2021
You’ve waited 40 years for a new @ABBA song and now there are two! ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ and ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’ are both out now and will feature in the #ABBAVoyage concert. 🌟 https://t.co/rG7FRnT5rh
The concert is scheduled to take place in London next May, hosted by a purpose-built ABBA Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. According to the Associated Press, the planning of the show came first, and this inspired the group to make new music.
“It was so joyful to be together in the studio again, the four of us,” added Benny Andersson.
This one combines the old and new, the young and not-so-young,” writes the group. “A concert that has brought all four of us together again.”
22 songs will be performed, including the new lead singles from the album, to create an unforgettable 90-minute show. More information can be found on the ABBA Voyage website, and tickets go on sale Tuesday, September 7.
“What you’re gonna see when you come to this show… is us.”
— ABBA Voyage (@ABBAVoyage) September 2, 2021
Benny and Björn introduce the world to #ABBAVoyage, the revolutionary concert 40 years in the making, and the brand new @ABBA album that was born out of the journey 🎶
Find out more at https://t.co/erjJHNSIqS pic.twitter.com/f2Mbtpe86N
[via ABC News, image via ID 160621420 © Buurserstraat386 | Dreamstime.com]
