October 1963. The Beatles arrived in Sweden for a five-concert tour. John, Paul, George and Ringo were young men with a limited catalogue to run through. By the time their stay was over, the Nordic country was head over heels with songs like Twist and Shout, Please Please Me, I Saw Her Standing There, From Me To You and She Loves You taking over radio waves. It made a huge impact on young musicians and like with many other things, Sweden absorbed all that’s good about the Fab Four.

Meanwhile, a young man named Bjorn Ulvaeus was making music with Hootenanny Singers, a group that released a lot of music for a few years, starting 1964. Benny Andersson was making his mark playing the keyboard for the Hep Stars, at times referred to as the “Swedish Beatles”. Agnetha Faltskog released her self-titled debut album in 1968. And Anni-Frid Lyngstad too was taking her first steps in the music world after winning a music talent contest. It was only around 1970-71 — yes five decades ago — that the four began working together seriously (in 1970 they put up a ‘cabaret show’ called Festfolk, which was more like “engaged couples” putting up an act of songs and skits).

From superstardom to a 40-year fika

In 1972 they recorded a song we know well — People Need Love (under the name Bjorn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid) and one thing led to another, giving birth to ABBA. By the time they called it a day (or went on a long “break”) in December 1982, they had sold well over 100 million albums worldwide, more than any group since the Beatles. Call it disco or hard-edged pop, they changed the face of music. People wanted more of Mamma Mia and Money, Money, Money but the four refused to deliver another irresistible tune until now — 40 years later with a 10-song album, aptly titled Voyage, releasing on November 5.

“We ended, and for creative reasons. We ended because we felt the energy was running out in the studio, because we didn’t have as much fun in the studio as we did this time. And that’s why we said: ‘Let’s go on a break.’ And we never said: ‘This is it. We’ve split and we’ll never reunite again.’ We never said that. We just said back then that we’d go on a break. And this break has now ended. Sounds strange,” said Bjorn Ulvaeus to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. It seems they took a fika, which in Swedish is a break from humdrum activities.

The two tracks that have already been released from the upcoming album give a feel of the music that’s on the way. I Still Have Faith in You is a ballad delivered ABBA style while Don’t Shut Me Down is that shimmy track the group has always been known for. In a way, Voyage picks up where ABBA left off with the 1981 album The Visitors.

“That Benny and I wrote and we recorded the songs as best we could and it just happened to be a lot of people out there who liked it. And we’re doing the same thing now. We’re holding our noses and diving. Anything can happen. We don’t know how this will be received; we just know that we’re as proud of this as we were back in the ’70s. This is the follow-up of The Visitors. It’s 40 years apart, but it’s still very much the latest album, if you know what I mean. I don’t see it as a standalone thing. We take all that wonderful baggage that we have with us into this production, as well,” Bjorn said during the Apple Music 1 session.

ABBA is making a comeback at an interesting moment. They started their journey just before the UK joined the European Union in 1973 and they are returning soon after Brexit. The Swedish group is a shining example of how English, which is second language to them, can be used successfully, keeping aside most nuances. Their songs are lyrically simple, grammatically correct, the references are at its most direct form and everything is pronounced phonetically. It’s what another Swedish group once spoke about — Ace of Base to The National: “For the Americans, it’s the lyrics first, production second and melody last. I am not saying the lyrics are not important, but for us Swedes, for whom English is our second language, we just try to make it understood by a world audience. Because of this focus on lyrics, some of the American songs are complicated and can sometimes be not much fun. While for us, we always try to reach to as many people as we can, so we have feel-good melodies and simple lyrics so everyone can have fun.”

And ABBA always kept this in mind while recording, winning over generations of listeners globally. “Yeah, I know that we did Mamma Mia, the musical and the film and so forth, and Universal did it with ABBA Gold, but still, how is it possible that, generation by generation, something seems to appeal and that the songs still are played as much as they are? Benny and I have been asking ourselves that question many times. Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know what it is. I just know how we wrote them and how we recorded them and how we created the stuff. I don’t know why they live on the way they do,” said Bjorn.

Well, when Voyage releases we are almost sure that it will not let up on the visual richness and pop grandeur they have always been known for. Thank you for the music, once again.

Meeting now & then

2008: The premiere of Mamma Mia! brought together ABBA members

2016: The four of them were seen at an impromptu singalong in Stockholm

2021: The members in motion-capture suits that are being used to create a new virtual concert experience