ABBA reunion 2018: Swedish legends announce new music after 35 years

Entertainment reporter(wp/es):

The biggest reunion in music has finally been confirmed.

Swedish super group ABBA have announced plans to release new music, nearly four decades after they split.

Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad confirmed the news in a statement on Instagram, saying it was an “unexpected consequence” of their decision to put on a “virtual reality tour”.

The four piece described their return to the studio to pen two new tracks as “an extremely joyful experience”.

The statement read: “The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence. We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!

“It resulted in two new songs and one of them I Still Have Faith In You will be performed by our digital selves in a new TV special produced by NBC and the BBC aimed for broadcasting in December.

“We may have come of age, but the song is new. And it feels good.”

I Still Have Faith In You will debut on the BBC in December.

The news comes over a year after the group announced plans for a digital experience in collaboration with Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller.

Ulvaeus, 72,revealed earlier this month that virtual “Abbatars” are being created of the four singers for the upcoming digital tour, expected for 2019 or 2020. 

The band will appear as they looked at their peak in 1979 using technology Ulvaeus described as “simply mind-boggling”.

The foursome, who formed in 1972, were famed for hits including Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!, SOS, Voulez-Vouz and Dancing Queen.

They hit international fame after winning the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo in 1974, before going on to sell 400 million singles and albums worldwide.

They devastated fans on announcing their split in 1983. They performed once more in 1986 on Swedish TV and were last pictured together at the opening of Stockholm’s ABBA-inspired dining experience, Mamma Mia! The Party in January 2016.

London set to be hotter than Greece as temperatures soar to 25C

staff reporter(es/wp):

London is set to be hotter than Greece next week as temperatures soar to 25C in the capital.

Sun worshippers are set to enjoy a mini-heatwave as the mercury hits highs of 25C on Thursday, according to the Met Office.

The capital will be hotter than Athens where top temperatures will only reach 23C.

Glorious sunshine is set to make going back to work after the weekend easier as temperatures rise throughout the week.

Monday and Tuesday are set to see highs of 17C with clear skies and just the odd risk of scattered showers, forecaster Craig Snell told the Standard.

He said: “The looks set to shine as we start the working week with a pleasant day on Monday.

“Temperatures will reach 17C in London and the south east making it slightly warmer than Sunday.”

The mercury will soar to 21C on Wednesday before hitting glorious 25C temperatures on Thursday.

“It will be cooler by the Thames but inland and in particular in north west London its likely to get nice and hot.

“Anyone out and about on Thursday will need some sun cream,” Mr Snell added.

Temperatures will drop towards the weekend with highs of around 19C on Friday.

Some 40,000 runners taking part in the London marathon on Sunday are likely to see temperatures around 18C with a small risk of showers.

“It will be slightly cooler and cloudier than it earlier in the week which is good news for runners but it is slightly too early to predict whether we will have any rain,” the forecaster added.

Londoners enjoyed long-awaited spring sunshine on Saturday when temperatures hit 21C in parts of the capital.

Many hailed the “first day of spring” online with one person tweeting: “First day of Spring in #London and you want to start a new life full of sun.”

Another added: “The sun was out today and I didn’t know how to act.”

A third person said: “I always feel so emosh on the first sunny evening walk through London of the year and I'm not ashamed to shout about it.”

Why Google beats up Goldman in the fight for the top graduates

IT  reporter(wp/es):

“The geeks shall inherit the earth” became a popular phrase 10 years ago when Amazon, Facebook and Google were fast becoming the mainstream.

This is now true in London where technology is snapping at banking’s heels to be the capital’s top industry. 

Recent data shows that a high-achieving graduate can earn the same or more at a tech firm as he or she can at an investment bank.

The average starting salary at a bank is £46,000, whereas graduate coders can earn £51,000, according to research from jobs site Glassdoor.

Michael Drew, head of technology at headhunter Odgers Berndtson, says: “Both are level for compensation and are fighting for the top two per cent of talent. Tech has really shaken up the employment market in London and there are no longer just two or three paths to success.”

More than one in 10 new jobs created in London last year were technology roles, according to another recruitment firm Indeed, and banking has been shrinking ever since the financial crisis and, more recently, Brexit. 

At London Business School, the percentage of those gaining an MBA who went into financial services fell to 26 per cent last year from 46 per cent in 2007 and the percentage going into technology firms more than tripled, from six per cent to 20 per cent over the same period.

Banks have responded by putting a heavier emphasis on quality of life than chunky remuneration.

The banking exodus is reflected in the London office market where Goldman, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Deutsche Bank have been shedding office space for more than a decade — at present holding 3.6 million square feet.

In contrast, Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon are on the rampage, holding 3.1 million square feet, with analysts expecting this to rise to 5 million square feet within the next five years.

Tech firms are even encroaching on the Square Mile, an area traditionally associated with big banks.

In 2016, takeaway delivery app Deliveroo moved into Cannon Bridge House — on what used to be the trading floor of the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange — and last year 5000 Amazon staff moved into Principal Place in Liverpool Street.

But some in the recruitment market are still sceptical and say that the tech industry has a long way to go before it can call itself a genuine competitor to banking.

Drew adds: “Technology is growing year by year but it is still not like the financial services hub. London needs to push forward before it can become a truly world-class hub, respected on the global stage. London is currently just a launch-pad market for US tech firms to go into the rest of Europe.”

Recruiters also say that salary data can be misleading, pointing to the fact that most people in banking receive huge bonuses which dwarf their salaries.

Despite heavy regulation, recruitment firms say top bankers can expect to earn four times their salary.

Richard Buckingham, partner at Leathwaite, says: “At a bank or a hedge fund, you’re working for your end of year bonus. Everything is bonus oriented. At tech firms, the salary and equity options are good — which when it starts vesting can result in a lot of money.”

But while the two industries slug it out for London’s top talent and office space, both face the same potential nightmare — Brexit. Banking and tech are alike in relying heavily on foreign talent and easy access to Europe’s markets, something that could be taken away by this time next year.

However, if the two industries can survive unscathed then the fierce competition between them means London could end up with two world-class industries in the near future.