The Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again soundtrack justifies its existence through unironic commitment. Producer Benny Andersson's orchestral arrangements, recorded at Olympic Studios, preserve ABBA's melodic architecture while allowing a cast led by Lily James and Cher to deliver performances of genuine emotional weight. The film's prequel-sequel structure dissolves when the music matters most. Essential for ABBA believers; instructive for skeptics.
⚡ Quick Answer: The Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again soundtrack succeeds because its cast genuinely believes in ABBA's songs rather than treating them as karaoke. Producer Benny Andersson's careful orchestral arrangements, recorded at legendary Olympic Studios, honor the originals while allowing actors like Lily James and Cher to deliver emotionally committed performances that make even prequel-sequel hybrid storytelling work.
There is no shame in loving ABBA. It took me longer than it should have to figure that out.
The second Mamma Mia film arrived in the summer of 2018 carrying a premise that should not have worked: a prequel-sequel hybrid in which a young Donna Sheridan (Lily James, astonishing) traces her 1979 European summer in flashback while her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) prepares to reopen the Kalokairi hotel. Two timelines, the same songs, Cher appearing in the third act like a visitation from a higher plane. It worked because the music was always the point.
The Songs, Again
Producer Benny Andersson returned — as he did for the first film — to oversee the arrangements, and what that means in practice is that nobody took liberties they couldn’t justify. “When I Kissed the Teacher” opens the record with a kind of caffeinated joy that Lily James commits to completely, the orchestration just shy of the original’s disco-era sheen. “I Wonder” she handles with genuine restraint, which is harder than it sounds when the song was written for Agnetha Fältskog’s soprano.
Josh Dylan, playing young Sam, gets “Knowing Me, Knowing You” and treats it like a breakup that actually happened to him. Jeremy Irvine and Hugh Skinner, as young Harry and young Bill, navigate “Waterloo” with the cheerful recklessness the song demands. These are not karaoke performances. Richard Curtis, who contributed to the screenplay, apparently understood that the films live or die by whether the actors believe the lyrics in the moment they sing them. Most of them do.
The Classic Cast
Meryl Streep’s presence in the film is limited by the plot — Donna has died before the story begins — and so the soundtrack gives you her absence, which lands harder than it should. Christine Baranski’s “My Love, My Life” near the end of the record is one of the more quietly devastating things in either film. She and Julie Walters earn the emotion they’re working with.
Then there is Cher. She appears on “Fernando,” a song that was not originally in Mamma Mia! the stage musical but was a standalone Swedish hit that has circled this franchise for years waiting for its moment. With Andy García singing opposite her, it is exactly as ridiculous and committed and right as you want it to be. Andersson had the good sense to stay out of the way.
The London cast recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes — the room where Led Zeppelin and the Stones had worked, now repurposed but not diminished. Engineer Steve Price and a full orchestra under the direction of Martin Koch gave the tracks the width you need when you’re scoring an island in the Aegean. Koch’s arrangements for the climactic “Super Trouper” sequence, with Streep’s voice folded back into the living cast, remain the best argument for what this franchise understands about grief and joy running together.
There is a version of this album you dismiss because it’s mainstream and sequelled and commercial. That version of yourself is missing the fact that “Dancing Queen” makes people cry at funerals, at weddings, in cars alone on the motorway at eleven at night. Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus wrote songs that do not care whether you think they’re serious. They outlasted punk, disco, grunge, everything. They’ll outlast this too.
Put on “The Day Before You Came” from the bonus tracks — Lily James again — and tell me this is throwaway.
🎵 Key Takeaways
- 🎵 Benny Andersson's Olympic Studios orchestrations honor ABBA's originals while giving actors room to deliver emotionally committed performances rather than karaoke renditions.
- 🎭 Lily James's restrained take on "I Wonder" and Josh Dylan's genuinely heartbroken "Knowing Me, Knowing You" work because the cast treats these songs as real emotional moments, not plot devices.
- ✨ Cher's "Fernando" with Andy García is the right amount of ridiculous and committed, benefiting from Andersson's restraint in letting the moment breathe rather than over-orchestrate.
- 🏛️ Recording at legendary Olympic Studios with Martin Koch's orchestral arrangements gave the tracks the width needed to score an island setting while folding Meryl Streep's voice back into the living cast for maximum emotional impact.
- ⏰ ABBA's songs have outlasted punk, disco, and grunge because they operate independent of whether listeners consider them serious—"Dancing Queen" still makes people cry at funerals.
Who produced the Mamma Mia 2 soundtrack and what was their approach?
Benny Andersson, one of ABBA's founding members, returned as producer and orchestral arranger. His philosophy was that nobody took liberties they couldn't justify, meaning arrangements honored the originals while allowing actors genuine interpretive space rather than strict recreations.
Where was the Mamma Mia Here We Go Again soundtrack recorded?
At Olympic Studios in Barnes, London—the legendary room where Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones recorded. Engineer Steve Price and conductor Martin Koch led a full orchestra to give the tracks the spatial width needed for scoring an Aegean island setting.
What makes Lily James's vocal performances on this soundtrack stand out?
James commits fully to both the caffeinated joy of "When I Kissed the Teacher" and the genuine restraint of "I Wonder," which is particularly challenging since the latter was written for Agnetha Fältskog's soprano. She treats the material as emotionally real rather than theatrical.
How does Cher's appearance on "Fernando" fit into the soundtrack?
"Fernando" wasn't in the original stage musical but circled the franchise for years waiting for its moment. With Andy García opposite her, it lands with the right balance of ridiculousness and commitment, aided by Andersson's decision to let the performance breathe without over-orchestration.
Why does the inclusion of Meryl Streep's voice matter if her character is dead?
Her absence is plotted into the narrative, and conductor Martin Koch's orchestral arrangements fold her voice back into the living cast during the climactic "Super Trouper" sequence, creating what the piece calls the best argument for how this franchise understands grief and joy running together.