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Abba's new music sounds like it used to, and that's what's exciting

Anyone who expected Abba to return with an up-to-date song in his own style was disappointed.

Bjorn and my son went to the safe districts and released two songs that on the surface sound like they were recorded during the band's activity and not in 2021.

But that's what's so lovely

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• Abba

Avi Goldberger

Sunday, 05 September 2021, 08:47 Updated: 09:02

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like in the old days.

Abba's virtual characters (Photo: PR)

A week ago we were informed that in the next seven days Kenya West and Drake will be releasing new albums. The world of music celebrated. When the two leading rappers in the world release new works almost simultaneously, it is without a doubt a sensational event.

In a disturbed plot twist, that week summoned us, out of nowhere, for much more pompous musical news. Abba, the largest pop band in history, released two new songs on Thursday, the first to record since disbanding forty years ago. And these songs are not the end. In addition to a grandiose hologram show, the band from Sweden has also recorded a full album that will be released in two months. Suddenly the news of West and Drake's expenses turned from Big News to meh.

In real time, Abba was at the forefront of everything related to sound and production.

Benny and Bjorn, the men in the lineup, had their hands on the pulse and their creative process was perfectionist at levels that are hard for us to understand today, in the computer age.

The past forty years have brought with them musical revolutions in all areas, and Abba's return is intriguing to understand where the band, which sounded like the most glittering thing of the 1970s, will find itself today.

But anyone who expected them to come back with an up-to-date song in his own style was disappointed.

Bjorn and my son went to the safe districts and released two songs that on the surface sound like they were recorded during the band's activity and not in 2021.

Still, things are not quite like that.

To the general public it may sound like a ballad like "I Still Have Faith In You" could have been the next single they released after "The Winner Takes it All," but to die-hard fans it clearly isn't.

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The style is the same and it's lovely, but the nuances teach us that Abba is somewhere else. Abba ended in anger. The band's songs from the end of the road were an expression of the divorce of the two couples who made up the band. Excerpts like "The Winner Wins Everything," "One of Us" and "The Day Before You Came" were an expression of the pain at the end of love, the shattering of the dream of Western life, the destruction of the family that divorce brings.

But since then four decades have passed and everyone is already somewhere else. What ended up being very charged, now sounds different. Frida and Anita sing in the two songs that came out differently. They sound calm, peaceful, smart and above all - older.

"I Still Have Faith" is led by Frida. At 75, she impressively holds the ballad, which lasts a little over five minutes. The song is kind of a statement of intent of this comeback. The words tell of completion, of friendship, of togetherness. As if to summarize the chapters of the previous chapter and announce that a new chapter has begun. Frida, unlike in the past, does not pay attention to the accent. In the seventies, my son and Bjorn would record her and Anita countless takeaways, just to make their English sound perfect. This time, it seems, they gave it up. The Scandinavian accent pops up in almost every sentence, and the truth is that it's okay and even more so - real.

Musically, Abba built the piece in a fascinating way.

At first there are only violins, piano and Frida's voice in the background, but after two minutes, an eternity in today's pop works, more and more elements begin to join the song.

At first it is the accompaniment of the second singer Anita.

Then it's drums.

Then guitars.

And suddenly everything turns from a Disney-style ballad into something bigger than life.

Cynthia, side flutes, everything goes into celebration, and this load manages to pump, until the end returns to the minorities.

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The second song to come out, "Don't Shut Me Down" will probably get better than the ballad. This is a light-hearted pop piece, and if "I Still Have Faith" connects more to the dark period of the end of their career, "Don't Shut Me" is more stylistically associated with the mid-seventies, to the period of "Mama Mia", "SOS" or "Chikitita" .

The song is led by Anita and it tells a simple story about a woman who is initially waiting in the park for a former lover to arrive. The woman describes her feelings in a pulsating way, emphasizing the tremendous power she expresses as an adult, along with the picturesque depictions of space. Very classic Europe. "Don't Shut Me Down" is a song that radio stations can love. Not ones that only play the stars of the hour. There's no place for Abba's comeback. But stations that combine new and old, Galgalatz style, have to die for it.

A lot of philosophical questions arise from this comeback, and it's really hard to answer.

Does this union violate the myth?

It may be so, it may be that the exact opposite is true and the union will actually strengthen it.

These are currently two songs that manage to recreate the sound and feel of 40-50 years ago.

Seemingly a simple thing, but not really.

Think about it: if other artists their age, like Bob Dylan or Paul McCartney, had managed to create music that sounds like the one they did four or five decades ago, we would probably be happy.

In the meantime, we have another whole album of Abba on the way and a lot of people are really excited.

me too.

I will reward writing a review of Abba's new music.

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