ABBA's Bjorn says new album may be last recording

STOCKHOLM, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Swedish supergroup ABBA released their first studio album in 40 years on Friday, which might be the last new venture by one the biggest-selling bands of all time.

"I think the other three will say 'this was the last time'," Bjorn Ulvaeus, one half of the band's song-writing duo who, with Benny Andersson, was responsible mega-hits like Dancing Queen, Waterloo and Money, Money, Money, said.

"I'm not saying never. There is always some open door somewhere. I hate to say this is it ... I'm just saying I don't think we will record any more."

Formed by two married couples in 1972, ABBA have sold more than 385 million albums since their first hit Waterloo, topping charts across the world until their break-up in the early 1980s.

ABBA Gold, a compilation of greatest hits originally released in 1992, recently passed its 1000th week on the UK Album Chart.

Voyage  is their first album with fresh songs since The Visitors  in 1981, which was released just before the band split. 

The split coincided with the break-up of Bjorn's marriage to singer Agnetha Faltskog and Benny's to Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

The new album was born from a project to launch a new ABBA concert show - also called Voyage - featuring digital representations of the four band members created by motion-capture technology.

"It was the avatars that made it. It was kind of a natural thing to do to give these people something new to sing," Ulvaeus said.

"So we recorded 3-4 songs and then we thought why not record a couple more? And suddenly we had, you know, an album on the horizon."

Voyage contains 10 songs, all previously unpublished material apart from Just a Notion, which was first recorded in 1978.

Ulvaeus said he and Benny had not tried to bring the music up to date and that the album would probably appeal mostly to old ABBA fans.

"You can certainly feel that it's 40 years on. I think there is a depth in the voices, and the music, and the lyrics," he said.

"There is an element of something that comes with age, I think, in the whole album. Not that it sounds like four, tired geriatrics. There is a lot of energy in it."

From May next year, fans will be able to catch the four ABBA-tars - accompanied by a live band - singing a selection of old hits and songs from the new album at a purpose-built ABBA Arena in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

While the digital show could run and run, ABBA themselves - all now in their 70s - may call it a day.

"What we would like to leave with is a good album, some new, good music. I hope that's what we leave with," Ulvaeus said.

"The avatars are taking over now." - Reuters