After a 40 year hiatus, the world’s favourite Swedish group ABBA have announced they will be reuniting for both a new album and digital concert coming this November. The new album, titled Voyage is the first release in four decades, while the band have not performed much at all in recent years – since 1986 they performed a track at a private gala in 2016, however this will be their first full, and public show.
ABBA reunited
ABBA have shared their excitement at the announcement, releasing statements that said:
“It’s been a while since we made music together, almost 40 years, actually. We took a break in the spring of 1982 and now we’ve decided it’s time to end it. They say it’s foolhardy to wait more than 40 years between albums, so we’ve recorded a follow-up to The Visitors. We simply call it Voyage and we’re truly sailing in uncharted waters.”
Voyage
ABBA have dropped two tracks from the forthcoming album, both in contrasting styles. The first track, I Still Have Faith In You, is reminiscent of their softer and more emotional ballad style. With a feel of familiarity in its composition, and simplicity in the piano and string arrangement for the most part, the girls’ vocal delivery is the icing on the cake that makes the listener feel like there’s been no break at all.
I Still Have Faith In You / Don’t Shut Me Down – Listen here
The contrasting track, Don’t Shut Me Down, is also quite a mellow musical offering, but with all of the classic Disco pizzazz you’d hope for from an ABBA track – don’t be fooled by the first verse. Once the drums, guitar, synth and bass all kick in, it’s all you can do to suppress your best Eurovision/wedding party moves. There’s a real combination of classic ABBA with a freshness to the new songs, and the trademark sound and feel of the group is still present after all these years.
The digital concert
ABBA are set to take to the stage on 27th May at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Arena in London. Although the concert will be physically attended by a crowd, it’s quite a unique process, being neither fully physical nor digital. The official ABBA Voyage website explains:
What you are going to see when you come to see this show, is us. Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid.
Join us for a concert 40 years in the making. A concert that combines the old and new, the young and not-so-young. A concert that has brought all four of us together again.
ABBA Voyage is the long-awaited concert from one of the biggest pop acts of all time. See ABBA’s avatars accompanied by a 10-piece live band, in a custom-built arena at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London.
Ticket Types
General Admission
Get closer to the action with our General Admission tickets. These tickets are for standing (or dancing) only, so you’ll be closer to the stage than anyone else and free to dance anywhere within the area.
Auditorium Seating
Choose from a wide variety of seats at a range of different prices depending on where you’d like to sit. Pricing is based on the location of the seats, but every seat is a good one.
Dance Booths
We have eight Dance Booths, each named after people from the ABBA universe. These are flexible spaces, so you can book individual seats in a booth, or book one or more whole booths for your party. Each booth has seating for all, plus your very own dance floor.
Accessible Seating
Our arena has plenty of wheelchair spaces and seats suitable for wheelchair users to transfer into. Each includes a companion seat that’s free of charge. Like all our tickets, these wheelchair and ambulant positions are available to book online, but If you have any specific access needs or requirements that you would like to discuss, please get in touch with us at access@abbavoyage.com.
Hotel Packages
We have a variety of convenient hotel and concert ticket packages to choose from, with hotels available both close to the venue and across London.
Get your ABBA Voyage concert tickets from the Official ABBA Website
Also by Michelle Sciarrotta:
Accessibility At The Smith Center Series: Part One
James “Fitz” FitzSimmons Interview: The Boys In The Band On Netflix