There will be new music from ABBA this year, according to Björn Ulvaeus in an interview which appears to confirm their release plans more definitely than ever.
Speaking to Australia’s Herald Sun about the longtime reports that the Swedish superstars had been working on fresh material, he said: “There will be new music this year, that is definite. It’s not a case anymore of it might happen, it will happen.”
The group announced in 2018 that two new tracks were in the works, “I Still Have Faith In You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down.” Later reports stated that there were to be five new songs, to reward fans forced by the pandemic to wait longer than first anticipated for the proposed ABBAtar digital tour featuring avatars of the group.
When the existence of the first two songs was revealed, Ulvaeus said: “One of them is a pop tune, very danceable. The other is more timeless, more reflective, that is all I will say. It is Nordic sad, but happy at the same time.”
‘There are such strong bonds between us’
In the Herald Sun interview, he also says of the quartet’s recording reunion: “We’re really, really good friends. The four of us stand in the studio for the first time in 40 years and there’s just something in knowing what we’ve been through. It’s hard to describe, but there are such strong, strong bonds between us.”
In another interview published last week by the New York Times, the ABBA songwriter also spoke of the prospect of new material this fall, but “with tantalizingly little detail,” according to writer Ben Sisario.
“Benny and I have written some new songs, and there will be some new music from ABBA released this autumn,” said Ulvaeus. “But I’m forbidden to say anything more about it. I’m sorry. I would have told you everything, but I can’t.
“All I can say is that it was fantastic in the studio because it was like yesterday. It was so strange coming into that studio and the four of us looking at each other and thinking, “What is this?” It all came rushing back.”
Listen to the best of ABBA on Apple Music and Spotify.