Abba return after 35 years with two new songs
Swedish four-piece announce on Instagram two releases that will form part of their ‘avatar tour project’
Swedish pop group Abba have announced the recording of their first new music since 1982.
The legendary Swedish quartet said the new songs were an “unexpected consequence” of their recent decision to put together a “virtual reality” tour.
“We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio,” Abba wrote on their official Instagram page. “So we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The band released the name of one of the new songs “I Still Have Faith In You,” which they will premiere in a joint NBC/BBC TV special in December.
In 2016, the group, comprised of Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad, “performed together for the first time in more than 30 years at a private event in downtown Stockholm, Sweden” says Time magazine.
They split in 1982 and “were reported to have turned down a $1 billion offer to reform in 2000” adds The Daily Telegraph.
Abba's spokesperson Gorel Hanser described the new songs, saying: “The sound will be familiar, but also modern.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The studio sessions were “like old times”, she told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. “Easy as anything. It didn't feel weird that they hadn't been in the studio together for 35 years.”
But Hanser said the group would not perform live, other than as holograms in the forthcoming Abba Avatar tour.
“No, you can not expect them to join forces on stage again,” she said. “They will not do that.”
The band’s Björn Ulvaeus “revealed details of the band’s avatar project in Brussels earlier this week”, says The Guardian.
The showpiece is the two-hour TV show, which will see the band perform as computer-generated avatars.
Ulvaeus said that the band had been digitally scanned and “de-aged” to look like they did in 1979, when the band performed their third and final tour.
The digital recreations are then set to tour the world from next year.
-
‘Every argument has a rational, emotional, and rhetorical component’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
October 6 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include bad news overload, Donald Trump repeatedly crossing a red line, and the Statue of Liberty fallen on hard times
-
Scorching hot sauces that pack a punch
The Week Recommends The best sauces to tingle your lips and add a fiery kick to your food
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of Taiwan
In the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdown
IN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American cities
Under the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
The Swedish church at the centre of a Russian spy drama
Under The Radar The Russian Orthodox Church is accused of being an 'active tool' of Moscow's 'soft power'
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?
today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago