In a few months, Swedish pop powerhouse ABBA will release Voyage, their first studio album in 40 years.
Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, band members and co-composers of the musical Mamma Mia! based on ABBA songs, previewed the new album’s release date, Nov. 5, in an Instagram post and video. Other members of the band include singers Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
Andersson and Ulvaeus also previewed the Abba Voyage performance, which will take place in the spring of 2022 at a custom-built arena in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and would feature ABBA’s avatars accompanied by a 10-piece live band.
The digital characters, or avatars, for the concert, were created through “performance-capture techniques,” to animate and recreate band members in their prime, Industrial Light and Magic creative director Ben Morris said in the Instagram video.
“What you’re going to see when you come to this show is us,” Andersson added in the video.
A separate Instagram post showed that two new songs that will be played during the ABBA Voyage concert, “I Still Have Faith In You,” and “Don’t Shut Me Down,” have been released.