POSTED ONJULY 23, 2020BYROBYN GALLAGHER
Since 2018, ABBA fans have eagerly been awaiting the release of two new recordings from the Swedish pop legends. And now, after many delays, it appears there may be not just two but FIVE new tracks coming out next year. Or so claims the UK music journalist Geoff Lloyd.
Lloyd broke the exciting news on his podcast Reasons To Be Cheerful. He revealed that he’s recently had a Zoom chat with ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus.
Geoff says that Björn confirmed that ABBA has recorded five new songs. This is three more than the previous two new songs the band announced back in 2018.
The new songs were due to be released at the end of 2018. After previous delays, the release has been delayed again due to technical difficulties and — of course — issues from Covid-19 precautions. The podcast claims the new release date will be sometime in 2021.
ABBA are planning to tour the songs using virtual holographic avatars — or ABBAtars — in place of Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid themselves.
Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reached out to ABBA’s manager Görel Hanser. She could not confirm that five new songs were coming out, but stood by earlier comments about the two new tracks. “I can confirm that two songs will be released, but we do not know more right now.”
The long wait for ABBA’s new songs
The new ABBA recordings have been a long time coming. ABBA’s last album, The Visitors, was released in 1981 and their last new music was released in 1983. The group last performed together in 1986.
In 2018, the group dropped the exciting news that they had recorded two new singles, which were set to be released as part of a Christmas special in December 2018.
However, later that year Ulvaeus confirmed that fans would have to wait a little longer for the new material. The Christmas special had been postponed to an unspecified date in 2019 — but that year passed without any new ABBA material being released.
In May this year, Björn told the US broadcaster CNBC that the two new recordings would be coming out “sometime this year” — but now it appears the release will be happening later still.
The two songs are said to be titled “I Still Have Faith in You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down”. Ulvaeus previously described one of the songs as being “like a pop song from the Seventies” and being “very danceable”. The other he described as being “more timeless, more reflective” and that “it is Nordic sad, but happy at the same time.”
ABBA — consisting of Agnetha Fältskog (70), Björn Ulvaeus (75), Benny Andersson (73), and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (74) — is one of the most successful bands of all time. After winning Eurovision 1974 with “Waterloo”, they went on to sell over 400 million albums.
What do you think? Are you excited to hear five new ABBA songs? Or would you just be happy with two new tunes? Tell us your thoughts below!
https://wiwibloggs.com/2020/07/23/five-new-abba-songs-2021/256336/
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ABBA Will Release Five New Songs, With Avatar Tour Expected In 2021
By Bruce Haring
Bruce Haring
pmc-editorial-manager
AP
ABBA will have five new songs on the market in 2021, and has pushed back their plans to do a holographic tour to support the music because of the pandemic.
The Swedish group – Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus – were originally planning to release only two songs for their comeback. But the long process between the original announcement in 2018 and now has allowed them time to do more than planned. It will be the first new ABBA music in 35 years.
Titles include I Still Have Faith In You and Don’t Shut Me Down.
In a statement announcing the new songs, ABBA said, “The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA 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.”
For the tour, ABBA will appear as their younger selves. “They photographed us from all possible angles, they made us grimace in front of cameras, they painted dots on our faces, they measured our heads,” said Bjorn Ulvaeus. “Apparently a cranium doesn’t change with age the way the rest of your body falls apart.”
The long gap between the breakup and today has not diminished the world’s passion for the group.
Last month, Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro reported that a Mamma Mia 3 could be in the cards down the road.
Judy Craymer, who produced the combined $1 billion-plus-grossing feature films Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, as well as the original West End $4 billion-grossing ABBA musical, said that a trilogy was possible. Craymer said that she intended to develop the musical during the COVID-19 shutdown.
“I was meant to have been getting on with that, in my head, during these months. But then I got hit with COVID fog,” says the producer.
https://deadline.com/2020/07/abba-five-new-songs-avatar-tour-in-2021-1202992428/
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Ryktet om hemliga Abba-låtarna – efter samtalet med Ulvaeus
ABBA
Publicerad 23 jul 2020 kl 18.00
Foto: ADAM IHSE/TT / TT NYHETSBYRÅN
Foto: OLLE LINDEBORG / TT / / TT NYHETSBYRÅN
Rykten om att det ska släppas fem nya Abba-låtar nästa år började cirkulera i brittisk press, efter att journalisten Geoff Lloyd sagt det i sin podcast ”Reasons to be cheerful”.
Lloyd menar att Björn Ulvaeus berättat det för honom under en intervju över videolänk – men nu dementeras uppgifterna av bandets manager Görel Hanser.
– Det är två låtar som är aktuella för närvarande och jag vet inte när de ska släppas, det finns inget datum satt, säger Hanser till TT.
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Det var i sin podcast ”Reasons to be cheerful” som den brittiska journalisten Geoff Lloyd berättade att han intervjuat Abba-legendaren Björn Ulvaeus i en timme över videolänk.
– Min anledning till att vara glad är att den här veckan fick jag tillbringa en timme med att prata om The Beatles, vilket är mitt favoritämne att prata om, med Björn Ulvaeus från Abba. Det var fantastiskt. Via Zoom, säger Geoff Lloyd i podcasten.
Lloyd: ”Lovade att den nya Abba-musiken ska vara ute”
Lloyd berättar i ”Reasons to be cheerful” om samtalet med svensken, och artistens liv i karantän på sin ö i Djursholm. På kollegans fråga om de diskuterade Abba under intervjun säger Lloyd att bandet har spelat in fem nya låtar – när det bara tidigare är känt att bandet spelat in två nya låtar ihop.
– De har spelat in fem nya låtar. De skulle ha kommit ut i slutet av förra året, säger han och fortsätter:
– På grund av tekniska problem och pandemin så har det skjutits upp, men han lovade att den nya Abba-musiken ska vara ute 2021.
LÄS MER: Björn Ulvaeus: Därför blev inte Abba-återförening av
Managern Görel Hanser dementerar
Nu går dock bandets manager Görel Hanser ut och dementerar att bandet ska släppa mer än två nya låtar ihop.
– Det är två låtar som är aktuella för närvarande och jag vet inte när de ska släppas, det finns inget datum satt. Förmodligen nästa år men det hänger ihop med avatarprojektet som har blivit försenat på grund av corona och så. Det finns inget datum satt och det finns inget mer än att man pratar om två låtar, säger hon till TT.
Expressen har sökt Björn Ulvaeus, som inte vill kommentera ytterligare.
https://www.expressen.se/noje/ryktet-om-hemliga-abba-latarna-efter-samtalet-med-ulvaeus
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