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ABBA Singer Agnetha Makes Comeback as Solo Artist

Agnetha Faltskog stands second left in ABBA's wax figures displayed at Stockholm's ABBA museum. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP/File
Agnetha Faltskog stands second left in ABBA's wax figures displayed at Stockholm's ABBA museum. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP/File
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ABBA Singer Agnetha Makes Comeback as Solo Artist

Agnetha Faltskog stands second left in ABBA's wax figures displayed at Stockholm's ABBA museum. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP/File
Agnetha Faltskog stands second left in ABBA's wax figures displayed at Stockholm's ABBA museum. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP/File

Two years after iconic Swedish pop group ABBA returned with a new album, singer Agnetha Faltskog has announced she will unveil a new single as a solo artist this week.

"So... where do we go from here?," the 73-year-old asked in a post to Instagram late Tuesday.

She said the single -- also titled "Where Do We Go From Here?" -- would be premiering on BBC Radio 2 on Thursday, AFP said.

Singers Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad represented the double A in the ABBA acronym alongside Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.

The artist had last week teased that a new release was in the works, in an Instagram post that just said "Where Do We Go From Here?", without further explanation.

While it took ABBA nearly 40 years to return with a new album after the band split in the early 1980s, Faltskog has since produced several solo albums, the last "A" came out in 2013.

ABBA were propelled to global stardom after their 1974 Eurovision Song Contest win with "Waterloo" but they split in 1982, a year after the album, "The Visitors".

In 2018 the supergroup confirmed rumors they had returned to the studio to record new music.

ABBA finally announced a new album in September 2021 and released the singles "I still have faith in you" and "Don't shut me down" ahead of the 10-track "Voyage" two months later.

ABBA also made a return to the stage with a London show the following year in the form of projected holograms -- dubbed "ABBAtars."

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Music Review: Gwen Stefani’s ‘Bouquet’ Is a Romantic Return to Mellow Rock — With an Ageless Voice

Recording artist Gwen Stefani watches during the first half of an NFL football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Jets , Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP)
Recording artist Gwen Stefani watches during the first half of an NFL football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Jets , Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP)
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Music Review: Gwen Stefani’s ‘Bouquet’ Is a Romantic Return to Mellow Rock — With an Ageless Voice

Recording artist Gwen Stefani watches during the first half of an NFL football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Jets , Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP)
Recording artist Gwen Stefani watches during the first half of an NFL football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Jets , Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP)

Words and phrases like "nostalgia" or "back to her roots" come to mind when listening to Gwen Stefani’s fifth studio album, "Bouquet" — and it is in no way negative.

Across 10-tracks, the powerhouse singer leans into the mellow rock of her youth — think Hall & Oates, Chicago, Fleetwood Mac — with dashes of country vibes here and there. Her voice is ageless, unaltered and distinctive, immediately recalling the early aughts when No Doubt still existed, and Stefani was still a bit of a ska girl.

Thematically, however, the songs are about a woman who’s been through the ringer — but life gave her a reprieve in her second act, and she found stability, lots of flowers and no mo’ drama. In that way, "Bouquet" is a not so furtive ode to husband Blake Shelton — who she met and fell in love with while they were both coaches on the singing reality competition show, "The Voice." At the time, they were both going through divorces to Gavin Rossdale and Miranda Lambert, respectively.

On "Bouquet," the Stefani-Shelton romance arrives through yacht rock sounds and flowery language in songs with titles like "Marigolds,Late to Bloom" and "Empty Vase." When the album reaches its end, it is with a duet with Shelton on "Purple Irises."

If the album tells a story of her relationship, it starts with the opener "Somebody Else's." Stefani starts off the proceedings by listing her previous romantic entanglement and bad choices. "I don’t know what a heart like mine/Was doin’ in a love like that, ah," she sings. "I don’t know what a woman like me/Was doin’ with a man like you, ooh."

It's a direct counter to the title track, where the focus appears to be back on Shelton: "We met when my heart was broken/Thank God that yours was, too," she shares. "So lucky that you were goin'/ Through what I was goin' through."

In "Late to Bloom," she decries the fact that they met so late in life.

A nice bass progression, a clever turn of the phrase and a great voice are what it takes to get this album going. Add a cohesive theme, a pleasant vibe and a charismatic star —- and that's coming up roses.