Abba Previews Debut Album and 11 New Songs After 40 Years

Before Max Martin’s hit factory ruled radio playlists, there was another Swedish pop phenomenon: Abba, reunited after 40 years. The new album “Voyage” will be released on November 5th and concert-like dates are planned in London in May; The singers will be digitized images supported by a live band. While the lines from “Don’t Shut It Down” are about a woman who surprises her ex with her comeback, the choirs also acknowledge the weirdness of Abba’s reappearance: “I’m not your acquaintance/I’m together now and then. Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad sing, supported and produced by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. “And I want you to keep an open mind.” Meanwhile, the music reclaims familiar ground: a turbulent anthem with shimmering orchestration and hard disco guitars, tuned solemnly and earnestly. JON PARELES

Charli XCX oscillates between grand gesture pop and artier impulses, but “The Good Ones” returns pendulum pop. It was produced by Oscar Holter from the Max Martin barn, who also produced The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” and looks directly at the 8th note synthesizers of Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”. Scrolling through the records, Charli XCX regularly and resolutely accuses herself – “I always let the good go”. PARELES

Juls, ‘Love Me’ featuring Niniola

In “Love Me” it’s all about rhythm: shakers and hand drums, the choppy sounds of an electric guitar, the overlapping call-responses from the cheerfully syncopated Nigerian singer Niniola, and a saxophone that finally has the final word. Juls, a Ghanaian-British producer, neatly balances 1970s Afrobeat, the hand-played, steady-state funk perfected by Fela Anikulapo Kuti, with the multi-channel transparency of 20th-century Afrobeats. Even after the song explodes halfway through, the groove maintains its shrewd composure. PARELES

Extremely rich, assertive, soulful house music from Fred, a singer and songwriter who has worked with Ed Sheeran and Stormzy. He was mentored by Brian Eno and has a soft spot for bright dance music that is almost physically upbeat. . JON CARAMANICA

Tokischa and Rosalia, ‘Linda’

In “Linda,” white European Rosalía, who has dominated Spanish pop music for the past few years, turns to Dominican musician Tokischa and dembows her street reputation. Tokischa is the established rebel of the genre, an iconoclast who makes government officials, homophobes, and upper-class puritans grasp their pearls. It’s no surprise that “Linda” runs like a gendered playground hymn; on a dembow-flamenco mix, two stars “Nos besamo’, pero somo’ homie” (“We kiss each other, but we are besties”). This is the kind of song that ignites necessary reflections on race, power, and cooperation – conversations about who these cross-cultural teams are designed to enrich and who, if any, they aim to liberate. ISABELIA HERRERA

Bobby Shmurda, ‘No Time To Sleep (Freestyle)’

Bobby Shmurda’s first song after prison – seven years after his debut single “Hot ___” made him a star – feels like burning off excess energy. This is a six-minute freestyle workout; It is delivered with a stubbornness reminiscent of the enthusiasm of Meek Mill, but leaves little room to breathe. The stakes here are intentionally low. Releasing a song like this – no chorus, heavy rhymes, messy flow – relieves the pressure of the quest to get another hit as big as the first. For now he just wants to rhyme. karamanika

All the air grooves and saccharine strings, Martox’s “Pausa” comes out mostly with the spiked mine. Along with producer and vocalist Gian Rojas, the Dominican duo collages disco grooves and transforms bass lines into a prismatic beach boogie. HERRERA

Jhay Cortez, ‘Tokyo’

The penultimate track from Jhay Cortez’s new album “Timelezz” exemplifies a minor rebellion in Spanish pop music. Sometimes, the production is water; in others, its shimmering synths are reminiscent of a midnight ride through the streets of the Japanese capital. With a quadruple rhythm on the floor, the piece is another sign that the leading players of reggaeton are embracing the textures of house music and pushing the boundaries of the genre beyond the old world of pop. HERRERA

Japanese Breakfast, ‘Glider’

The song “Glider”, written for the video game Sable, features the keyboard patterns of singer, musician, and producer Michelle Zauner, who recorded it as Japanese Breakfast. There is surprise in her voice as she sings about a trip to the unknown: “Everything is moving/Feels like it’s around me.” Keyboards begin to shimmer like jukeboxes, an ever-thickening structure that will soon merge into continuous, cascading chords, unable to limit its enjoyment. PARELES

At a live-streamed home performance last year, virtuoso folk singer Aoife O’Donovan performed front-to-back 10 songs from Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska.” He accompanied himself on acoustic guitar alone, as on Springsteen’s original album from the early 1980s, but that’s where the resemblance ends. The original album was hopeless and dark, with doubts running through its songs like a cloud of blood; O’Donovan treats them like canon, saluting Springsteen’s singing prowess with clear, precise phrasing and a friendly phrasing. This approach is most appropriate for the finale, “Reason to Believe,” a Springsteen classic that considers the mysterious appeal of durability. GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO

Ruby Landen, ‘Pt. one’

Ruby Landen’s mix of Celtic-tone acoustic guitar fingerboards and string string instruments – cello and violin – reflects the introspection of songwriters like Nick Drake. But in a humble but pointed voice, “Pt. 1. Anatomy of a failed relationship – “Was it the security of my existence that brought you back?” – patiently and silently conveyed. Then he enters a modal, accelerating instrumental coda, behind violin and steel guitar, that needs no words to capture the underlying pain. PARELES

Nate Smith, Joel Ross and Michael Mayo, ‘Altitude’

On the drums, Nate Smith is in the business of inspiring. Far from being ostentatious, he is an enthusiastic technician who reveals the intricacies of his bandmates’ games and fascinates him with his joie de vivre. The 46-year-old Smith has released “Altitude”, the original and final single inspired by his upcoming album “Kinfolk 2: See the Birds”. Joining his group Kinfolk is a pair of young and extraordinary improvisers here: vibraphonist Joel Ross and vocalist Michael Mayo. The music video captures the band recording the song in the studio just before the coronavirus pandemic hit; You can see and hear him get inspired along with the drummer when Mayo goes into a short scat solo, improvising impeccably in small rhythmic zags at the lower pitch, and high-flying long notes. Russonello