Forty years after the release of their last studio album, the iconic Swedish pop-group ABBA have returned with one more.
By Julia Nycz
Voyage, their ninth project as a band, was released to accompany a concert of the same name coming to London next spring. But don’t get too excited just yet - Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid will not be there in person. Instead, they have jumped right into the 21st century and created digital versions of their younger selves to perform the vocals, accompanied by a live band, to give their fans “the greatest ABBA performance the world has ever seen”.
In “The Story Behind The Album” video on the ABBA YouTube channel, Björn said the album’s lyrics are a “reflection on life”, which is clearly evident throughout. Starting with a beautiful ballad, ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ is one of the co-singles and a reflection on the group’s years together. The album encompasses themes of nostalgia, growing up, as well as returning home; ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ is a perfect way to kick off this album, reminding us of the life-long friendships formed between all the members and the wonderful memories they have shared over the years.
Compared to their early albums such as Ring Ring or Waterloo, Voyage sounds quite drastically different. However, The Visitors, the band’s last studio album of their main active years is actually not such a massive contrast. Ever since the marriages within the band started falling apart towards the end of the ‘70s, the songs progressed from their more ‘happy-go-lucky’ nature, to a ‘darker’ sort of sound. Voyage carries this on through, with songs such as the beautifully heartbreaking ‘I Can Be That Woman’, which is about recovering from addiction, or ‘Keep An Eye On Dan’, a song about co-parenting. In the intro to the latter, the pain can be heard in Agnetha’s voice as she sings about an experience she is all too familiar with. The more serious themes in these songs serve as a reminder that the group is no longer “young and sweet” in their late twenties; they have matured significantly over the four decades since the band’s break-up, reaching well into their seventies, with many joyful but also painful moments.
For those who expected an album full of bangers like the classic ‘Dancing Queen’ or iconic ‘Mamma Mia’, this may not be the one for you. But that's not to say there are no upbeat songs on Voyage. If you have (somehow) exhausted ABBA’s outstanding discography of hits and want something new to blast in your ears as you dance it out like Meredith in Grey’s Anatomy, ‘Just A Notion’ and ‘No Doubt About It’ will satisfy that craving. ‘Just A Notion’ was actually originally recorded in 1978, for the Voulez-Vous album, however was scrapped for reasons even Björn can’t remember. The original 43 year old vocals were used, but a new backing track was recorded, which explains why the song fits so seamlessly with the other songs on Voyage. Furthermore, ‘When You Danced With Me’ has that perfect mix of the classic ABBA vocals by Agnetha and Frida, and the ‘new-age’ ABBA instrumentals which are ever-present throughout the album. These instrumentals are of course heard in the finale song, ‘Ode To Freedom’, which combined with the beautiful harmonies ends the album, and ABBA’s voyage, perfectly.
Although the lyrics of some songs portray a potential reunion of ex-lovers, particularly in the other co-single, ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’, Björn says he sees it more as them, the band, ‘knocking on the doors of the fans’, asking to be taken back. And who are we to say no to ABBA when they come back to us after 40 years?
Image courtesy of Andrew Ebrahim on Unsplash. Image license can be found here.
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