ABBA Record First New Songs Together in 35 Years

ABBA announced Friday that the Swedish pop group reunited in the studio to record their first new songs together in over 35 years. The recording session yielded a pair of new tracks, including “I Still Have Faith in You,” which will premiere in December as part of ABBA’s previously announced “groundbreaking venture that will utilize the very latest in digital and virtual-reality technology.”

“The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence,” the band said in a statement Friday. “We all felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and we had only been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”

In October 2016, ABBA aligned with American Idol creator Simon Fuller to create a stage show that utilized the emerging VR technology to bring the quartet back to life as opposed to the now-industry standard holograms.

“We’re inspired by the limitless possibilities of what the future holds and are loving being a part of creating something new and dramatic here ”“ a time machine that captures the essence of who we were. And are,” ABBA’s Benny Andersson said at the time.

According to the Guardian, over two years after the project was first announced, the result of the technology, and “I Still Have Faith in You,” will be revealed as part of a two-hour television special produced by NBC and the BBC that will air this December.

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus recently stated that the avatars would “de-age” the group to present them as they looked in 1979, when they embarked on their final tour together. ABBA broke up in 1982.

“We may have come of age, but the song is new. And it feels good,” ABBA said in their statement Friday.