Fans welcome first ABBA album in 40 years

Swedish pop band ABBA made a comeback Friday with their new album "Voyage", nearly 40 years after they split up.

Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid — which forms the acronym ABBA — have not released any new music since 1982, a year after their last album "The Visitors."

The new album "Voyage" went live online at midnight in various time zones, to the delight of longtime fans worldwide.

After a four-decade hiatus, the group finally announced a reunion and new album in September, and released the singles "I still have faith in you" and "Don't shut me down."

The newly released songs have been compared to ABBA's classic hits like "Waterloo", "Dancing Queen", "Mamma Mia", "The Winner Takes It All" and "Money, Money, Money", but the band members are not worried about disappointing fans.

'Nothing to prove'

"We don't have to prove anything, what does it matter if people think we were better before?" Andersson told Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter.

The 10-track "Voyage" album is not all the group will be releasing.  They will also unveil digital avatars — dubbed "ABBAtars" — at a concert in London in May, resembling their 1979 selves.

The holograms are the product of a years-long project, designed in partnership with a special effects company of Star Wars creator George Lucas.

Abba fans lined up in the pouring rain in front of Berlin's Dussmann department store, which held a special sale of the new album from 11:59 p.m. local time (2259 UTC) on Thursday.

"It doesn't sound dated, it doesn't sound 40 years ago," ABBA fann Emilie De Laere said at a listening party in Stockholm for the band's much-anticipated release.

According to Jean-Marie Potiez, one of the group's most well-known international experts, age has given some of the singers a new edge.

"Agnetha and Anni-Frid's voices have lost their high notes, which is normal given their age, but they have gained in depth and sensitivity."

mm/rt (AFP, dpa)