Abba's Anni-Frid Lyngstad: Don't be too sure the band have ended

Abba singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad has said "don't be too sure" that their comeback album Voyage is their last, in her first interview about the reunion.

The Swedish superstars released the LP, their first for 40 years, on Friday.

"I have learned to say never to say never," she told BBC Radio 2's Zoe Ball about the prospect of future projects.

Lyngstad said going back into the studio with bandmate Agnetha Fältskog felt like "coming back home again, having fun with my little sister".

The album received mixed reviews from critics but is set to go to number one in the UK on Friday.

It is on course to be the fastest-selling album of the year so far and outsold the rest of the top 40 combined in its first two days of release, according to the Official Charts Company.

Lyngstad and Fältskog rarely give interviews, and their bandmates Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus have said one condition of the comeback was that the singers would not need to talk to the media.

However, Lyngstad, known as Frida, appeared on Radio 2's breakfast show on Thursday and said she was pleased with the response to the release - but was less worried about what people think than in the band's heyday.

"Of course we are pleased because we didn't expect anything, actually," she said. "It's always like you're a bit nervous when you release something new.

"But if I compare it to how it was 40 years ago, it's a bit of a difference because I would personally say I don't take it that seriously as I would do earlier on, when I was younger, because then it meant so much.

"But as Benny said in an earlier interview, we don't have to prove anything. So we have just done it for the fun of it. And that's a good feeling, actually. And then, when people like it, as they seem to do, then of course it's wonderful."

The quartet have stayed in touch over the years but she said she was a little apprehensive when they went back into the studio, originally with the aim of recording new music for a forthcoming virtual stage show.

"Benny suggested that we maybe should have a couple of new songs on that show. So that's how it started," she explained.

"And of course with anticipation, I went to Sweden into the studio to meet with the others, because it's always fun to work together with them. So that was the feeling I had - I mean, comfortable, a little bit tense maybe, but we also decided if it doesn't go well then we don't have to release it."

She and Fältskog "have something special, not only voice wise, but also as friends", she said.

"Once we closed the door behind us in the studio, we felt at home, both of us."

Andersson recently told BBC News that he said he thinks Voyage will be the quartet's swansong. "I've said that's it," he said last week. "I don't want to do another Abba album.

"But I'm not alone in this. There are four of us. If they twist my arm, I might change my mind."

Ulvaeus added: "I never say never, but I agree with Benny. I think that was our goodbye."

It will take Lyngstad and Fältskog to twist their arms if Abba are to continue, the pair said.

In her interview on Thursday, Lyngstad, 75, suggested that might not be out of the question.

She told Zoe Ball she was "very surprised that Benny and Bjorn" had said that Voyage was the end of Abba.

She said she "cannot remember" having that conversation with them, but added: "Yeah, we have probably said it must be the last thing we do because also thinking of our ages, we are not young any longer.

"But I would say again, you never know. So don't be too sure."

She also discussed the Eurovision Song Contest, which was Abba's launchpad to global success when they won with Waterloo in 1974.

Asked whether she still watches the contest, she replied: "I'm sorry to say no, I don't. I'm not so interested because it has changed so much over the years.

"It's not what it was at that time. Now it's more like a show. It's very technical. There are some good songs coming out of it, but I cannot say I'm a fan of Eurovision. Maybe I shouldn't say it."