Iconic Swedish pop band ABBA are set to release five new songs in 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic put reunion plans on hold.

The quartet - Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog - have not released a studio album since 1982 but did release two songs in 1993 and 1994. 

Co-host of the Reasons To Be Cheerful podcast, Geoff Lloyd, was told the news by Ulvaeus.

He said: "I got to spend an hour with Björn Ulvaeus from ABBA via Zoom. 

"He's quarantining – he's got an island in the Stockholm archipelago. They've recorded five new songs. They should have been out at the end of last year… Because of technical difficulties and the pandemic, it's delayed things.

“But he promised me that the new ABBA music will be out in 2021.”