Take that, Glasgow
ABBA have released their first album, 'Voyage', in forty years.
The album, which features ten new songs, is a follow up to their 1981 record 'The Visitors'.
Upon first listen, a nice surprise came our way when the Swedish superstars gave a nod to our very own Kilkenny.
In the song 'When You Danced With Me', the lyrics, "I remember when you left Kilkenny" are uttered. The music has a distinctive Irish feel to it, so it seems the Emerald Isle's influence wasn't too far from their minds when writing the tune.
The song is inspired by Björn Ulvaeus' trip to Ireland some decades ago. He said, "I drove around the coast from Limerick to Dublin with my family in the 90s and we stopped in Kilkenny. It was beautiful and very romantic, I thought."
"Castle, churches and the surroundings, County Kilkenny with its little, charming villages. It has stayed with me. We drove through Cork as well and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that city, but try to replace Kilkenny with Cork in 'When you danced with me'!"
The pop quartet will also be the focus of a virtual residency in London later this year.
In a press release, they stated, "It’s been a while since we made music together. Almost 40 years, actually. We took a break in the spring of 1982 and now we’ve decided it’s time to end it. They say it’s foolhardy to wait more than 40 years between albums, so we’ve recorded a follow-up to 'The Visitors'."
Have a listen to the song below. Hon the Cats!