ABBA singer Agnetha Fältskog has admitted the band’s forthcoming ‘Voyage’ concert experience may well be their last.
The iconic four-piece made their monumental comeback earlier this month, announcing the release of their new album also called ‘Voyage’, on November 5 – and dropping the singles ‘I Still Have The Faith In You’ and ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’.
They also revealed their forthcoming tour will see a “digital” version of ABBA (not holograms) perform alongside a 10-piece live band. The run of shows will take place at the purpose-built, 3,000-capacity ABBA Arena at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, starting Friday May 27, 2022.
Speaking to Radio Sweden about the rehearsals, Fältskog said: “None of us probably knew what to expect but we’ve worked with it a lot so you grew into it eventually. We stand there doing these songs with I don’t know how many cameras and people.
“It felt great to do it in the end because it was so different. Also there was a vibe, one felt that maybe it’s the last thing we do. Same thing with the album.”
When asked when the band will get together again in the future, she added: I don’t really dare to say. We’re a bit older now, and have our minor ailments. But we struggle on.
“But I don’t dare to say, because it’s a bit uncertain. At the moment we feel happy that we got this together, and let’s hope everything goes well in London, at the premiere over there.”
ABBA’s return has been in the works since at least 2017, when they first announced plans for a virtual tour, then slated for 2019. When those plans were delayed in 2018, the band announced they would be sharing their first new tracks in 35 years that December. The two-song offering then expanded to five last year, before eventually becoming a full album.
Meanwhile, former Klaxons member James Righton recently spoke to NME about the process of finding the members of ABBA’s new live band.
Asked about what it took to make the cut, Righton said: “You not only have to be an incredible musician and professional, but you also need feel, character and groove. It’s really important to find a band of personalities and people with style. When you look back at ABBA footage from the ‘70s, they were always brilliant and had amazing players – like if you go see LCD Soundsystem now, for example.”
He continued: “It was a challenge, but a fun one. I care as a fan of their band. If I was going to be a part of it, I wanted to get it right. This band had to step up as being as good as the original line-up.”
The producers of the forthcoming live tour also spoke about the creation of the concert.
The show has been put together by Svana Gisla (who produced Jay-Z and Beyoncé‘s On the Run Tour), choreographer Wayne McGregor, Johan Renck (who directed David Bowie‘s videos for ‘Blackstar’ and ‘Lazarus’), Baillie Walsh (who has directed for Massive Attack and Bruce Springsteen) and producer Ludvig Andersson (son of ABBA’s Benny Andersson and producer of And Then We Danced, Yung Lean‘s ‘In My Head’ and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again).
Speaking about the first time the pop icons rehearsed, Walsh told NME: “That was incredible – that moment when we filmed them in Stockholm and you had the four of them in their motion capture leotards.
“They looked quite absurd, but it was ABBA! The four of them walked onto that stage and it was extraordinarily emotional. There’s a chemistry that happens between certain people that when they come together, something magical happens. All we had to do was capture that. They soon got over the silliness of the suits, they performed, and as each day went by they got more relaxed, more into it and more ABBA.”
Meanwhile, pre-orders for their new album recently broke records in the UK after over 80,000 copies were purchased in just three days.