Swedish pop band ABBA have announced they are reuniting to release new music for the first time in 35 years.

They have recorded two new songs, including I Still Have Faith In You, which will be performed in a TV special in December.

The quartet said they came to the decision to make music again as they thought it "could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did".

Band members Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad said "it was like time had stood still" and it was as if they had only "been away on a short holiday".

"An extremely joyful experience!" they added.

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In 2016, ABBA announced they would be touring the world in 2019, but in digital form as holograms alongside a live band.

The band said they had enjoyed their hologram tour project so much, it had given them the incentive to make new music.

The announcement has given fans hope the real band members might turn up on the hologram tour.

ABBA are one of the most successful pop music acts in history, topping the global charts from 1974 to 1982.

They were catapulted to worldwide fame after winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden in 1974, at The Dome in Brighton.

Fans have welcomed the news, with one saying: "This is the best news I've had in my lifetime."

Another said: "Waiting for this my whole life."

"My dreams come true!" another added.

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Image:ABBA were one of the most successful bands of the late '70s

ABBA remain the most successful group to have ever taken part in Eurovision, having sold more than 500m records – making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

During their heyday, Faltskog and Ulvaeus were married, as were Lyngstad and Andersson.

However, their success resulted in both marriages collapsing and they disbanded in 1982.

The band's popularity has never really waned, however, with multitudes of tribute bands singing their hits to audiences over the years.

ABBA won the 1974 Eurovision song contest, held in Brighton
Image:They won the 1974 Eurovision song contest, held in Brighton

Several films based on their music have also been released, including Muriel's Wedding and The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, which has also been made into a musical.

Mamma Mia!, starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Amanda Seyfried, was released in 2008 and went on to become the highest-grossing film in the UK that year.

A sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again will hit cinemas in July.

Mamma Mia! the musical opened in London's West End in 1999 and continues to tour worldwide.

Andersson and Ulvaeus composed the music for the show and helped develop it from the beginning, while Lyngstad has been involved financially in the production.

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