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Abba reunion: New music delayed until late 2019

The band will perform the tracks as their 'digital selves' for a virtual TV special

Jacob Stolworthy
Tuesday 22 January 2019 03:40 EST
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Abba fans are going to have to wait a little longer for new music.

In 2018, the Swedish group – who split up 35 years ago – announced they would release two new songs as part of a virtual music experience in December 2018.

However, the group revealed in September that the project had been delayed until 2019. A representative for Abba has now confirmed to Variety that the songs will “hopefully” arrive this autumn.

They gave no reason for the delay, however, band member Benny Andersson recently told IceTheSite that legal complications had arisen after the announcement of their reunion.

The quartet’s new songs are called “I Still Have Faith In You” and ‘Don’t Shut Me Down”. They will be performed by the group’s ”digital selves” in a TV special produced by NBC and the BBC, produced by American Idol creator Simon Fuller.

“When that press release [about the TV show and recordings] came out, everything was up and running smoothly, then it didn’t run as smoothly,” he said. “We are still trying to establish the agreement that needs to be done to be able to continue. We are good. It’s the other side, everything that has to be done, everything that has to be drawn. It’s delayed. It’s not our doing.”

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ABBA have sold more than 400 million albums in their careers and have had nine No 1 hits in the UK between 1974 and 1980. They have not performed since 1986, other than a brief appearance at a private party in 2016.

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