ABBA says that they were “enemies” of progressive music in Sweden in the 1970s
ABBA has discussed how they were treated as “enemies” of progressive music in their native Sweden during their heyday in the 1970s.
The band, which announced their reunion this summer for a “revolutionary” live show in London and a new album called “Voyage” (released on November 5), had worldwide success around the world, but left many at home and felt less than happy .
“You know, in Sweden there was this progressive movement in music, and we were the enemies”, Björn Ulvaeus reflected to The guard in a new interview about the band’s career.
“Personally, I did not pay attention to all that – it did not mean shit to me, even if they hated us,” he added. “Because we got so much response from all over the world. From the beginning, we had contemporary colleagues, musicians, who liked what we did. ”
Last week (October 22), ABBA shared another preview of “Voyage” in the form of the “ridiculously happy” “Just A Notion”.
The song – which follows on the comeback singles’ I Still Have Faith in You ‘and’ Don’t Shut Me Down ‘- was recorded in September 1978 but did not make it to the finals of the Swedish hitmakers’ sixth studio album. Voulez-Vous’ the following year.
On the ABBA Voyage tour, a “digital” version of ABBA (not hologram) will perform alongside a 10-man live band. The shows will take place at the specially built ABBA Arena with 3,000 capacity in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, starting on 27 May 2022.
To talk to NME Last month, the producers of the “ABBA Voyage” live shows told fans to expect a “magical space circus”, adding: “We do not want to give away all surprises because we want everyone to come and enjoy it, but there will be lots of hidden surprises, hopefully some stage jokes and 100 minutes of pure ABBA euphoria to be part of this arena as someone had the brilliant idea that they would build in the middle of a pandemic and Brexit. ”