ABBA on course for first UK Top 10 singles in 40 years
The Swedish pop group have reunited ahead of an upcoming album and groundbreaking 2022 concert series.
Words: Alastair James; pictures: Baillie Walsh
Here they go again! ABBA are currently on course to score their first UK Top 10 singles this Friday (1o September), 40 years after their last appearance at the top end of the charts.
Last Thursday (2 September), the Swedish legends released the first two tracks from their upcoming album, Voyage, ahead of their state-of-the-art virtual 2022 concert series in London.
The band’s last album, The Visitors, was released in 1981. Voyage will be their ninth studio album with 10 original songs and will be available on 5 November.
“It was like no time had passed”
According to the Official Charts, ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ and ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’, which are also both available in physical form (not just streams) was in sixth and seventh place respectively. The last single to enter the UK Top 10 was ‘One of Us’ in 1981.
The Official Charts say ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’ was the most downloaded song in the UK last week, while both new tracks have been streamed more than 500,000 times over the weekend.
The reunion record will be accompanied by groundbreaking concert series that will see members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad – now all in their seventies – perform digitally with a live 10-piece band, in a purpose-built arena in London from 27 May 2022.
The band spent five weeks performing the whole show in front of 160 cameras so avatars of each member could be created to perform at the concerts. The results can be seen briefly in the music video for ‘I Still Have Faith In You’.
At a press conference in London on Thursday, Benny Anderson said of going back into the recording studio as a group, “It was like no time had passed”.
Björn Ulvaeus added: “It’s a privilege to hear [Agnetha and Anni-Frid] sing your music and words.”
Tickets for ABBA Voyage go on public sale at 1000 on Tuesday 7 September. Watch the music video for ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ below:
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