{"id":45774,"date":"2021-11-29T10:20:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T15:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/?p=45774"},"modified":"2021-11-28T22:56:45","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T03:56:45","slug":"musique-boutique-abba-joni-mitchell-body-unltd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/musique-boutique-abba-joni-mitchell-body-unltd\/","title":{"rendered":"MUSIQUE BOUTIQUE: Abba, Joni Mitchell, Body Unltd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to Audiofemme\u2019s monthly record review column,\u00a0Musique Boutique<\/strong>, written by music journo vet\u00a0Gillian G. Gaar<\/a>. Every fourth Monday, Musique Boutique offers a cross-section of noteworthy reissues and new releases guaranteed to perk up your ears.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The songs of ABBA are like comfort food \u2014 and that\u2019s meant as a compliment. On the one hand, you can say it\u2019s safe and predictable. But on the other hand, it leaves you so happy and satisfied. That\u2019s probably partially why ABBA\u2019s return with a new album, Voyage<\/em> (Capitol) \u2014 their first in 40 years \u2014 was greeted with such rapture; after the past two years of uncertainty and stress, anything delivering a dose of feel-good familiarity is most welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABBA never officially announced they were breaking up after the release of The Visitors<\/a> <\/em>in 1981, but as the years passed they gave no indication had any desire to release new music. What changed that was their involvement in a high-tech live show<\/a>, opening next year, where they\u2019ll be recreated as \u201cAbbatars.\u201d They so enjoyed recording new songs for the show it was easy to make the decision \u2014 why not release a whole album?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voyage<\/em> (Capitol) picks up where The Visitors<\/em> left off, at least in sound. But it\u2019s an older and wiser Agnetha F\u00e4ltskog and Anna-Frid Lynstad singing the songs; a bit bruised by life perhaps, but with ABBA\u2019s trademark optimism nonetheless intact. It\u2019s something nicely summarized by the line \u201cI\u2019m not the one you knew\/I\u2019m now and then combined\u201d (\u201cDon\u2019t Shut Me Down\u201d). Or consider \u201cKeep an Eye on Dan.\u201d If this was \u201970s ABBA, the title might make you think of a boyfriend with a wandering eye. But on Voyage<\/em>, it turns out to be F\u00e4ltskog\u2019s instruction to her ex-husband as she drops their son off for the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, don\u2019t expect the giddy spirits of \u201cBang-A-Boomerang<\/a>\u201d or \u201cTake a Chance on Me<\/a>.\u201d This is a more reflective ABBA. The lush \u201cI Still Have Faith in You\u201d can be viewed as a song of two people overcoming adversity, or an assessment of ABBA\u2019s own legacy. \u201cBumblebee\u201d is a quietly restrained song about climate change. The Gaelic-flavored \u201cWhen You Dance With Me\u201d takes a relationship that failed to take off as a means of contemplating the passage of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The music (all songs written by the \u201cBs\u201d in ABBA, Benny Anderson and Bj\u00f6rn Ulvaeus) are as toe-tappingly catchy as ever. And if some think the sentiments get mushy at times (e.g. the Christmas song \u201cLittle Things\u201d), the album closes with the yearning \u201cOde to Freedom,\u201d a prayer of hope for the future. As ever, ABBA, thank you for the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n