There were many things we expected to witness this year, but ABBA releasing new music wasn’t something that most of us had on our 2021 bingo cards. And only those who either possess superhuman clairvoyance or have the habit of paying real close attention to every word being publically uttered by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad could have predicted that the group would be undertaking a virtual concert residency in support of a brand new album. Yet here we are. ABBA is back. And it’s all kinds of weird and wonderful.

Wonderful …

…because we are getting another dose of the Swedish group’s music. And how can anyone resist their sugary pop concoctions?

Over a decade-long partnership spanning much of the 1970s and the early 1980s, ABBA created what have gone on to become some of the most popular and recognizable tunes of all time. The combination of the ladies’ lovely voices and the gents’ catchy song-writing produced a ridiculous number of contagious super-hits. From the stomping Eurovision winner ‘Waterloo’ to earworms like ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Dancing Queen’, and ‘Take a Chance on Me’, among many, many others, their output was like musical sunshine on an overcast proverbial day. But 10 odd years and 8 albums into their career, amidst tensions following two intra-band divorces (Ulvaeus and Fältskog, Andersson and Lyngstad respectively), the group decided to part ways.

In the four decades that followed, chances of the quartet getting back together were repeatedly shot down by the group members, until the last few years when whispers of a reunion went around but eventually did not amount to much. That all changed this month, when the gods of pop finally decided to smile upon the world: ABBA announced they had recorded a whole album worth of new songs, and released two singles. Our pop loving hearts instantly rejoiced.

But would the new material even be any good? The answer, we are pleased to find out, is a resounding yes.

The two new singles – the epic ballad ‘I Still Have Faith in You’ and the disco flavoured ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’ (both of which were originally announced in 2018 but remained unreleased till now) – hark back to the group’s heyday. These may be new tracks but the first thing that still hits you is the nostalgia, as the band recapture the vintage magic that has given their music such intergenerational appeal. From the unmistakable voices and the distinctive Swedish twang to the deftness of the song-writing and the instantly memorable melodies, this, once again, is glittering pop music that is so well-crafted that it will silence your inner music snob and just force you to enjoy the tunes.

And what’s even better is that there’s more to come. The new album, titled Voyage, arrives in November and features ten tracks, all written and produced by Andersson and Ulvaeus. Plus the release will also be followed by a digital avatar concert residency (starting in May 2022), wherein their de-aged, digitized versions – known as ABBAtars – will appear alongside a 10-piece live band – so basically reverse karaoke? – performing in a purpose-built arena in London. Which brings us to the …

Weird …

… because those ABBAtars are somehow simultaneously stunning and kind of strange. The creativity that has gone into this project and the technology involved in the creation of these not-quite-holograms is beyond impressive. And the digital creations (that have apparently been in preparation since 2017) do look terrific as stills. But when you see them in the ‘I Still Have Faith in You’ video, something feels a little off. It’s not full-on uncanny valley, but the ABBAtars look … not so much like humans but like animatronic waxworks.

Still, we are not complaining. We’ll take any little bright spot in the omnishambles that is our current collective existence, and the return of ABBA definitely counts as one. They will never be the coolest band around, but they are certainly among the most skilled producers of catchy, contagious, enjoyable pop. And in a year as weird as 2021, that just might be exactly what we needed.