Voyage
| Abba
Voyage
Voyage is the ninth studio album by Swedish group ABBA, released on 5 November 2021. It is the group's first album of new material in 40 years following The Visitors (1981), and contains 10 songs all composed by ABBA's songwriters, Benny Anderssonand Björn Ulvaeus. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Returning with their first new album in 40 years, the Swedish pop titans attempt the seemingly impossible: balancing the lure of nostalgia with the pull of the present day. Amazingly, they pull it off.
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The Guardian
After 40 years, the makers of once-sparkling pop are back – but the glamour promised by this album’s two terrific singles goes horribly unfulfilled.
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Rolling Stone
The First New ABBA Album in 40 Years Was Worth the Wait.
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PopMatters
ABBA have pulled off a very good reunion album with Voyage despite the odds and expectations. The bar remains where they left it nearly 40 years ago.
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NME
a pop nostalgia trip that’s worth taking.
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The Post
It is absolutely astonishing that ABBA was able to pull off that nostalgic disco style that many probably couldn’t have pulled off in the industry today. They are able to show off that even after 40 years, they can still make the same great music they used to put out. It’s a perfect ending to their fantastic career by celebrating their journey and commemorating their unique style of music.
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Variety
ABBA Return, More ABBA-Esque Than Ever, With ‘Voyage.
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Firstpost
Agnetha Fältskog and Anni Frid Lyngstad’s voices have not aged at all. When they sing, the whirligig of everyday life stands still. They are spectacular, emotional, and vibrant in every track.
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NYU News
What makes this new release so exceptional is ABBA’s refusal to trade its signature sound for a more modern one. While the quartet has faced some backlash for their outdated sonics, it would be foolish to expect a hyperpop dance album from a Swedish band from the ’70s, especially one with such an iconic, irreplaceable sound. But for those longing for more authentic ABBA music — perhaps enough to fuel a third “Mamma Mia!” film — “Voyage” is sure to please.
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Classic Pop Magazine
To expect an instant wow from something that’s been absent from your life after all this time, and has aged as you have, will require a little time to sink in. If you love ABBA, you will undoubtedly love Voyage regardless, but if you’re on the fence, then you’re likely to remain there.
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Epigram
Worried fans can breathe a sigh of relief upon listening – ABBA have not embarrassed themselves; they have succeeded by continuing to do what has worked for them in the past. The result is a listenable, mildly catchy album which cheers and entertains, without offering much in the way of surprise or excitement.
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The Young Folks
ABBA make a solid return four decades in the making.
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Evening Standard
Of course it’s wonderful, miraculous even, to see and hear them again, but these aren’t the songs people will clamour for when those concerts begin.
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The Forty-Five
ABBA's final 'Voyage' is a thoroughly entertaining and poignant homecoming. Their return, 40 years in the making, does not disappoint.
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Slate
The Swedish superstars were once considered a fad. 40 years later, they’re as popular as ever.
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The Line of Best Fit
After a 40-year absence, ABBA still ignite pure disco pleasure on fun nostalgia trip Voyage.
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The Daily Nebraskan
I think “Voyage” is going to be the least listened-to album in ABBA history. When a group’s identity is linked so closely to a genre of music that itself is linked to a decade 50 years ago, it’s nearly impossible to modernize. I’m not exaggerating when I say a third of this album was listenable. For every other song, I was resisting skipping ahead to anything that sounded remotely funky. The best shot ABBA had was to come back ready for a “Mamma Mia 3,” but instead we got a slow, heavy-handed song about climate change and Christmas music. Please, gimme gimme gimme my ABBA back.
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The Gauntlet
Overall, Voyage did not let me down. There are so many tracks on this album that I would come back to as many times as I have and do with the group’s classic hits. ABBA managed to reach a delicate balance between the old and the new with this album, so much that the modern influences aren’t noticeable enough to scare the older generations away and the classic elements aren’t as outdated not to pull newer listeners in. They managed to walk that fine line effortlessly — something that many artists of their time have failed to achieve in comebacks. Voyage was definitely worth the sleep deprivation and an album I will not soon forget about.
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The Wooster Voice
Astoundingly, the group’s talent has remained sharp, as they produced a solid record that is both a tasteful embrace of their history as well as a powerful statement of their sound’s potency in the present pop landscape.
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The Crimson
With more mature voices and a willingness to break with the familiar, ABBA manages to deliver an album that doesn’t simply capitalize on nostalgia, but rather boldly showcases the group’s skills while remaining true to self.
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mxdwn Music
The emotions engraved in Voyage are enough to make their long-time fans gravitate towards them yet again like they once did in the ‘70s. Bouncing back between groovy pop and modern pop, ABBA brings a refresher that quenches the thirst of lost nostalgia.
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Stereoboard
Instead, this is a vexing hot mess: a sloppy, sentimental monologue with flashes of brilliance. It’s the drunk divorcee singing karaoke at a ski resort and somehow, implausibly, reminding you why you married them in the first place.
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Daily Mail
But Abba instantly redeem themselves with Ode To Freedom, an anthem as lovely as anything they’ve recorded. The album is easily good enough.
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tastemakers
Though it’s become cliche to say so, Voyage offers a much-needed deep breath in the stifling atmosphere of a pandemic. Nostalgia is the album’s strong suit, whether that comes in the form of dusting off an older generation’s love for the 1970s; reliving the unbridled joy a younger generation felt when watching the 1999 jukebox musical ‘Mamma Mia’ and 2008 film of the same name; or allusions to “SOS” and “Fernando” in “Keep and Eye on Dan” and “Bumblebee.” Though not their best, Voyage offers some gems to ABBA’s discography, a triumph in itself nearly 40 years after their golden days.
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PalabasTayo
It’s a celebration of all the years that have gone by and a cheers for all the music, and it’s a testament to just how heartwarming campy pop music can be when made with passion, care, and friends.
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The Breeze
For both die-hard ABBA fans and those who have only heard a couple of classics, “Voyage” is a must-listen.
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The Rice Thresher
‘Voyage’ is a satisfying finale to ABBA’s decades long career.
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Beats Per Minute
Voyage really does sound like an ABBA album that could have been made in the early 1980s; it is as if the book was closed in 1982 and has been finally reopened, a little dusty but picking up exactly where it left off, remarkably unimpeded by the intervening years. Agnetha and Frida’s vocals remain strong and stirring and Frida’s voice, in particular, carries the record with elegance and strength. Benny’s production work at times does a disservice to the material but, for the most part, Voyage is a welcome addition to the ABBA canon.
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Sputnik Music
Despite the album being weighed down by slow songs, my overwhelming sentiment towards it is appreciation that it was created to begin with, and that it contains three songs that stand up with the band’s best.
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Vinyl Chapters
After not putting out any material for forty years, revolutionary Swedish pop group ABBA have returned with one last, beautifully moving album in the form of Voyage.
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Clash Magazine
Ultimately, its failings resemble the ‘new’ Beatles material recorded for the ‘Anthology’ series. Could ‘Free As A Bird’ live up to ‘A Day In The Life’? Not a chance in hell, but it’s definitely worth the attempt.
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Hotpress
While Voyage doesn't quite rival the hits of ABBA's past, there's no doubt that, after 40 years, the Swedish icons' unique brand of unapologetic pop is still as strangely captivating as ever.
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Mirror
Soaring choruses and impeccable harmonies abound.
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The Arts Desk
Voyage' has songs that can match, in maturity, Abba’s achievements of up to half a century before.
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musicOMH
It’s welcome confirmation that, although Voyage is mostly geared towards giving audiences the vintage time capsule they desire, we are still being invited to imagine other possibilities. We’ll never know quite what other branching musical timelines could have been possible in the ABBA multiverse, but Ode To Freedom at least gives us a tantalising glimpse.
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The Irish Times
Exquisitely familiar songs from one of the greatest groups of all time.
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AllMusic
If ABBA didn't have cheeseball moments, they wouldn't be ABBA, so it's reassuring that the group brings the lows along with the highs on this unexpected and delightful album.
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Riff Magazine
The album comes to a close with the traditional balladry of “Ode To Freedom,” a fitting vocal close to a solid return effort from a legendary group.
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Retro Pop
If this truly is to be the final ABBA album, then it’s a welcome addition to their impeccable catalog and a fitting closing chapter in the tale of Sweden’s best-loved musical export.
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The Edge
ABBA's comeback is sweet, pop, and everything you would expect from the iconic band.
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The Captain's Log
Voyage is everything an ABBA album could be with its beautiful production, emotional yet catchy lyrics, and wonderful singing from Lyngstad and Fältskog. As an ABBA fan, I am so happy we got this album to give us a satisfying end.
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The Heights
Voyage is vintage ABBA at heart. If listening to it doesn’t make you want to pull out the sequin pantsuit hidden in the back of your closet, then there is probably nothing that will. ABBA did in fact “take a chance” with this album and proved that it was certainly a chance worth taking. So after the release of Voyage, all there is left to say to the band is “thank you for the music.”
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Wales Online
Sweden's finest deliver a moving, if predictable, swansong.
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