Archive for 2015

Paul interviewed by Aftenposten

A selection of pages from Paul's notebooks are included in the Aftenposten article

A selection of pages from Paul’s notebooks are included in the Aftenposten article

Today’s edition of Aftenposten includes an extensive 7-page article that tells the story of how two of a-ha’s biggest fans, P.A. Stenersen and Christopher Hopkins, managed to rescue a number of early a-ha recordings and notebooks, ending a decade-long legal stalemate between a-ha and their controversial first manager John Ratcliff.

Many of these early recordings are now included on the new 5-disc 30th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition of Hunting High and Low, to be released on September 18th.

Getting his old notebooks back also inspired Paul to record one of the early songs, “She’s Humming a Tune”, which has ended up being one of the tracks on Cast In Steel.

“When I got the books back, I saw the lyrics and remembered ‘oh yeah, that one was cool’. Then I thought it would be cool to record this one in particular now”, Paul says.

Paul also talks candidly about what he thinks of the new album:

“It is very hard to think of this as a-ha, because it seems to me that there are three different things – which one calls a-ha. It often ends up like this, and many bands do it this way. But I do miss the feeling of us being in the same studio, working on the same song in real time.”

An English translation of the entire Aftenposten article has been posted online at Aftenposten.no.

Two private shows added in Brazil

Eight concerts are now scheduled in Brazil

Eight concerts are now scheduled in Brazil

As part of a-ha’s ongoing partnership with Norwegian industrial company Hydro, the band will play two exclusive concerts for Hydro employees in the Brazilian cities of Barcarena and Paragominas on October 1st and October 3rd.

The info is available in a press release posted on Hydro’s Brazilian website.

Although the two concerts are closed to the public, fans in the area have a chance of winning tickets to the Barcarena concert, by taking part in a Hydro competition on Instagram called “Renew your passion for the future”. A jury will choose the 30 best pictures.

In addition to the two concerts, Magne and Morten will take part in local environmental projects supported by Hydro.

In Barcarena, Magne will do a workshop with young students, using recyclable materials. In Paragominas, Morten will take part in a seed planting project in a reforestation area.

Magne will also be exhibiting some of his art in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rio de Janeiro, opening on September 28th.

“Under The Makeup” music video premiere

Morten in the music video, filmed inside one of the tents at Canvas Hotel in Nissedal

Morten in the music video, filmed inside one of the tents at Canvas Hotel in Nissedal

The “Under The Makeup” music video officially premiered on YouTube yesterday, after a preview clip was first shown on German TV on Friday.

The video is now also available on VGTV in Norway.

The video was shot in the Nissedal area in Telemark two weeks ago, and features the actresses Sofie Gråbøl from Denmark and Frida Farrell from Sweden.

Sofie Gråbøl

Sofie Gråbøl

“The German director [Bode Brodmüller] came in contact with Gråbøl, and the band members are big fans of her, so they were really happy”, a-ha manager Harald Wiik tells VG.

“In our opinion she is one of the most interesting character actors we have in Scandinavia. A music video doesn’t necessarily involve much acting, but her presence adds more weight to it – it suddenly becomes “The Killing” meets James Bond”, Magne says.

“It’s not the first time someone kills Morten in our music videos, but it’s extra fun when Sofie Gråbøl is taking part in the crime!”, he adds with a laugh.

“Director Brodmüller was very focused on keeping the Scandinavian landscape and the Scandinavian feeling – a certain Wallander atmosphere – and also trying to get an actress who was already well-known in Scandinavia and Germany for her role as a detective inspector. Luckily the schedules matched up and she was able to be a part of this project, albeit in a slightly different role”, Britta Ostermann of a-ha’s German management tells VG.

The version of the song used in the music video is quite a different mix than the radio version released last month. The orchestra is more muted, while the piano, acoustic guitar and backing vocals are brought forward in the mix. An improvement, some would say, as the orchestra was quite overwhelming in the first version. This new mix is also the one used on the album, judging by the preview clips.

Magne to appear in new documentary series

Magne appears in one of the hour-long episodes

Magne appears in one of the hour-long episodes

Magne is one of the participants in a new six-part documentary series on NRK1 in Norway called Datoen (The date), according to Dagbladet.

Each episode will focus on three people; one well-known person and two ordinary people. Here’s NRK’s own description of the series:

“Three people born on the exact same date. Born in the same country and at the same time, but still their lives are going to take completely different turns. Three lives intertwined by small and major historic events. Maybe the lives of these three people can say something about all of us? About our country? About who we were and who we became?”

Datoen will premiere on NRK1 in Norway on September 6th. The airdate for the episode with Magne is not yet known.

Album previews and new TV performances

The final version of the album cover differs slightly from the first version that was posted

The final version of the album cover differs slightly from the first version that was posted last month

The first preview of the rest of the songs on Cast In Steel was posted by a-ha.com today; the Harket/Olsen/Kvint song “The Wake”.
More previews will be added daily, check out the full list on a-ha.com.

Meanwhile, German TV promotion in the week of the album release is shaping up nicely:

On 3 September, a-ha will be performing two songs live at the Deutscher Radiopreis (The German Radio Awards) in Hamburg; “Foot Of The Mountain” and “Under The Makeup”. This according to a post by the German forum. The show will be broadcast live on ARD radio and aired later in the evening on NRD television.

On 4 September a-ha will be performing live on the ZDF talkshow Aspekte, which is taped in Berlin. All tickets are already gone, but the TV broadcast will apparently also be streamed online.

And on 5 September is the previously announced Goldene Henne 2015 award show on MDR and RBB – now confirmed to be a live performance of two songs.

“Under The Makeup” music video shoot

It has now been confirmed that this week’s a-ha music video shoot was for “Under The Makeup”. The shoot took place somewhere in Telemark, Norway from Monday 10th to Wednesday 12th August.

There has been some confusion surrounding whether the German release of “Under The Makeup” on 21st August had been cancelled, but that info turned out to be wrong and the single release is going ahead as planned.

The music video will feature Danish actress Sofie Gråbøl, known from the acclaimed Danish TV-series Forbrydelsen, its American remake The Killing and most recently the British series Fortitude.

Also appearing in the video is Swedish actress Frida Farrell, who has posted a selection of pictures from the video shoot on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter:

Picture 1    Picture 2    Picture 3

Apparatjik performance cancelled

The upcoming Apparatjik performance at the Pavilion stage in Karlsruhe, Germany on September 12th has unfortunately been cancelled. No reason was given for the cancellation, which was announced on zkm.de.

But while they won’t be appearing in Karlsruhe, Magne and fellow Apparatjik member Guy Berryman (who hasn’t actually performed with the others since 2011) had a car trip through Italy and Switzerland last week, as seen in this picture. Check out more pictures from their trip on Magne’s Instagram account.

More German promo and new music video

a-ha in the video clip on Universal's website

a-ha in the video clip on Universal’s website

“Under The Makeup” is currently being used to promote the German TV station Sat.1’s weekly Samstagskino (Saturday Movie) in August.

A video clip where a-ha also appear at the end can be seen here. There’s a special emphasis on the 2012 movie Mirror Mirror – a movie in which Morten and his daughter Tomine provided the voices for the King and his daughter Snow White in the Norwegian-language version.

Another new promo clip has been posted on on the website of Universal Germany, where fans can win guestlist-access to one of the German concerts next year.

Meanwhile, a-ha seem to be filming a new music video in Telemark, Norway this week. Whether it’s for “Under The Makeup” or “Cast In Steel” remains to be seen. Paul posted a short video clip on Instagram, while Magne posted the picture seen below:

a-ha to perform at Goldene Henne award show

a-ha will be performing at the Goldene Henne 2015 award show in Berlin on September 5th, the day after the new album Cast In Steel is released.

The show will be held at the Berlin Velodrom with 4500 people in the audience, and will air live on the TV stations MDR and RBB.

Other acts scheduled to perform include Karat, Die Prinzen, The BossHoss, Andreas Gabalier, Santiano, Oonagh and Johnny Logan w/ Olaf Berger.

More info in German is available in a press release at presseportal.de.

‘Cast In Steel’ tracklist

The Cast In Steel tracklist has now been posted on the official site:

Update July 24th: Added length of each track.

01. Cast In Steel (Waaktaar-Savoy) (3:50)
02. Under The Makeup (Waaktaar-Savoy) (3:25)
03. The Wake (Harket/Kvint/Olsen) (3:45)
04. Forest Fire (Furuholmen/Harket/Terefe/Kvint) (3:54)
05. Objects In The Mirror (Furuholmen) (4:14)
06. Door Ajar (Waaktaar-Savoy) (3:45)
07. Living At The End Of The World (Harket/Kvint/Olsen) (4:06)
08. Mythomania (Furuholmen) (3:49)
09. She’s Humming A Tune (Waaktaar-Savoy) (4:02)
10. Shadow Endeavors (Waaktaar-Savoy) (4:21)
11. Giving Up The Ghost (Furuholmen) (4:15)
12. Goodbye Thompson (Waaktaar-Savoy) (3:34)

It’s worth noting that the Vinyl LP will only include ten of the twelve album tracks. And the song “Open Face” seems to have been left out, unless its title has changed. “She’s Humming A Tune” was originally an early demo that a-ha was working on in London in 1983/84.

The Deluxe Edition and Fanbox Edition will also include the following tracks on the second disc:

01. The End Of The Affair (Furuholmen) (3:31)
02. Mother Nature Goes To Heaven (Original Version) (4:33)
03. Nothing Is Keeping You Here (Original Version) (4:41)
04. Shadowside (Demo Version) (4:16)
05. Start The Simulator (Stereophonic Mix) (5:19)
06. Foot Of The Mountain (Mark Saunders Remix) (4:18)

To see the complete list of songwriters and producers, visit the a-ha.com article.

‘Cast In Steel’ to be released in four versions

Album cover

Album cover

The new a-ha album Cast In Steel (Sep. 4th) will be released in four different versions, according to the German a-ha forum.

Here they are, with pre-order links to Amazon.de:

1. Standard CD

2. Deluxe Edition (2CD)

3. Fanbox Edition (2CD)

4. Vinyl LP

Meanwhile, the first band interviews from last week’s Berlin promotion have started appearing online. There’s a short video clip at sueddeutsche.de and an interview at bild.de (subscribers only).

a-ha doing promo in Germany

It looks like a-ha have been in Berlin, Germany this week, doing promotion for their upcoming album Cast In Steel.

Universal Music Germany posted an Instagram picture of the guys waiting for the last interview to begin, after “having talked extensively with the press about their new album over the last few days”. None of the interviews have surfaced yet, but they will probably start appearing soon.

Five new press photos taken yesterday appeared at epa.eu:
Photo 1   Photo 2   Photo 3   Photo 4   Photo 5

a-ha.com also posted a similar Instagram picture from the same interview session as UMG, while Magne posted a selfie of the three of them together on Thursday:

the brothers grimm enjoying a rare moment as a threesome

A photo posted by Magne Furuholmen (@magne_furuholmen) on

Brazilian tour announced

On tour in Brazil again...

On tour in Brazil again…

Five a-ha tour dates in Brazil this October were announced today, bringing the total number of concerts on the Cast In Steel tour up to 35.

These additional dates will be taking place after the concerts in Buenos Aires and at Rock In Rio:

6 October: Net Live, Brasilia
8 October: Chevrolet Hall, Recife
10 October: Aquaville Resort, Fortaleza
14 October: Espaço das Américas, São Paulo
15 October: Master Hall, Curitiba

The concert in Curitiba will be the first time a-ha perform in that city.

Ticket info from a-ha.com:

There will be a sponsor pre-sale starting on July 13 for all dates. The regular on-sale date is July 15 for all shows except Brasilia, which goes on sale to the public on July 16.

In other news, Universal Germany has revealed a new cover image for the “Under The Makeup”-single. The first cover image turned out to be way too similar to the cover of Italian singer Victor’s 2014 single “I’m a Renegade”, so it had to be replaced (albeit with yet another generic stock image):

New single cover

New single cover

Article about Paul’s new Brooklyn studio

Paul in front of the modular synth system in his new studio earlier this year, before the studio had been completed (Picture from Dagbladet)

Paul in front of the modular synth system in his new studio earlier this year, before everything had been completed.
(Picture from Dagbladet)

Sonicscoop.com has posted an article about Paul’s new home studio in Brooklyn, which has been designed and built by Jim Keller of Sondhus.

“I wanted to build a place that actually sounded accurate. That was the big dream. And to be able to crank it up and for things to have some life”, Paul says.

Back in 2012, Sonicscoop.com had a previous article about Paul’s old home studio in SoHo, which was full of instruments and equipment that he had collected over the years. Since then, he has scaled down his collection significantly.

“It was important for me to simplify with this place, and it was very important to me to have walking space. I just wanted to get rid of everything just so I could think straight. Of course I do sometimes regret selling some of those old beautiful vintage synths because I know I’ll never find them again.

But when you write songs, you can can lure yourself into the thought that ‘If I just get this, I’ll write these great songs.’ That old ploy. It worked on my wife, and I think I was able to trick myself for a while too”, he laughs.

Read the whole article at Sonicscoop.com.

‘Cast In Steel’ album cover

Platekompaniet has now posted the album cover of Cast In Steel. The cover photo was taken in Rio de Janeiro in December 2014 by Just Loomis.

Cover photo by Just Loomis

Cover photo by Just Loomis

“Under The Makeup” premieres on radio

Single cover

Single cover

The new a-ha single “Under The Makeup” has now premiered on Norwegian radio a few days early, after the song leaked online on Monday night.

The song features a big, orchestral arrangement, which Lars Horntveth comments on in a video posted by a-ha.com on YouTube: “We tried to do kind of like a big James Bond-ish arrangement on it. It was also inspired by a Bjørk song which is called “Play Dead” from her ‘Debut’ album. It sounds really big and almost like a “wall of sound” [production]”.

“Under The Makeup” has so far been getting mixed receptions from both fans and critics. As one fan put it on the West Of The Moon Forum: “Interestingly it seems to be satisfying neither the guitar rock brigade nor the synth brigade! It’s all about the strings, bass and orchestration. Could be promising however for the live set.”

VG‘s reviewer Stein Østbø gives the song 4/6 and calls it “Dripping with melancholy, majestic and sincere. And impossible to dislike.” But he feels the arrangement is overdone: “This song doesn’t need strings to underscore the drama of the lyrics and melody, this song needs a more sparse arrangement around Morten Harket’s voice.”

The song also gets 4/6 from Dagbladet: “The lyrics could easily be interpreted as confronting the ambivalence that the band has had to struggle with over the years. It’s about breaking up and reuniting. (…) Thanks to Harket’s trademark vocals and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy’s very distinct melodic signature, it’s hard for a-ha to do much wrong as long as they stick to their basic ingredients. But naturally that also makes them slightly predictable.”

Aftenposten‘s reviewer gives the song 5/6. “Whereas the previous album was leaning towards the modern pop of bands like Coldplay and The Killers, there’s something more genuine about the new single. (…) A bit pompous, but it sounds great, and it doesn’t take many listens before you’re singing along to the chorus.”

Adresseavisen also has a positive 5/6 review: “The song sticks in your head right at the first line and melody change, it only takes eight seconds to realize that this is a really good choice as a single.”

Dagsavisen however isn’t too impressed with the new single, giving it 3/6: “One could always hope, but “Under The Makeup” doesn’t exactly raise expectations ahead of the album Cast In Steel, and a-ha is now more reminiscent of a vanity project than a band with good ideas.”

Magne creates large sculpture park

Magne at Tommerup Ceramic Workshop, hammering letters into one of the massive jars (Picture from Aftenposten)

Magne at Tommerup Ceramic Workshop, hammering letters into one of his massive jars
(Picture from Aftenposten.no)

Aftenposten’s weekend magazine A-magasinet has a 15-page article about Magne’s most ambitious art project to date; he is in the midst of creating the largest ceramic sculpture park in Scandinavia. A-magasinet has followed Magne’s process of making the sculptures, which is being done at Tommerup Ceramic Workshop in Denmark.

Magne has also made the magazine cover, out of clay. A video clip of him working on the cover can be seen here. Another video featuring Magne’s art has been posted here. And a full English translation of the article is available at Aftenposten.no.

The park is another commission by Kjell Inge Røkke’s company Aker, for which Magne has previously done a number of projects, including decorating the enormous sail of Røkke’s yacht Aglaia and a unique steel sculpture to be placed outside Røkke’s cabin.

The sculpture park will be situated outside the new Aker headquarters at Fornebu near Oslo and has been given the name Imprints. It will be comprised of 40 ceramic elements, including the two largest jars in the world (6 meters tall), nine columns (2 – 4 meters tall) and a 12 meter long ceramic relief.

“This is the single most comprehensive commission in my artistic career. That is why this new park is extremely important to me as a visual artist. I was never in doubt whether I should accept the challenge”, Magne says.

“The park will be marked by things I wrote through the years, texts with a lyrical element. Some of them come from songs I wrote, but most is free standing English poetry. I have something like 5000 – 6000 unpublished poems. They have been stowed away, awaiting some project.”

Many of the poems will eventually end up in a book in connection with the park, to be published later.

In addition to working on the sculpture park, Magne will hold a summer exhibition in Sandefjord from 28 June to 16 August. Sometime in the fall he’ll be exhibiting in Washington, and in December he’ll take part in a group exhibition in Rio.

“I know where I shall be every single day until June 2016, but I never get tired from working hard. What tires me, is the waste of time and people who get obsessed with details”, he says.

The first section of the Imprints park is set to open in August 2015, while the whole park won’t be completed until next summer.

Wennerberg, Ljunggren and Ormestad join a-ha on Cast In Steel tour

Wennerberg and Ljunggren toured with a-ha in 2009 and 2010

Wennerberg and Ljunggren played around 100 concerts with a-ha in 2009 and 2010

Drummer Karl Oluf Wennerberg and keyboardist Erik Ljunggren will once again join a-ha on tour in 2015/16, together with new touring bassist Even Ormestad. This was confirmed in an interview with Ormestad in the newspaper Tønsbergs Blad this week.

Wennerberg, Ljunggren and Ormestad are currently in the process of rehearsing between 20 and 25 a-ha songs, in preparation for the upcoming Cast In Steel concerts in South America.

“This is a comeback we’re talking about here, so our job is to make sure that it will sound fresh. We have to play a-ha’s music in our own way, while also trying to make it sound as ‘a-ha’ as possible”, Ormestad tells the newspaper.

Touring with a-ha is a childhood dream coming true, the bassist says.

“I’ve been standing in front of the mirror and playing bass to a-ha songs since before I was a teenager, so I should be well-prepared”, the 36-year-old bassist says with a laugh.

New a-ha single: “Under The Makeup”

The first single off a-ha’s upcoming album Cast In Steel is called “Under The Makeup” and will premiere on 3 July, a-ha.com announced today.

The song, which was completed last week, has been written by Paul, and produced by Paul and Erik Ljunggren. Mixing by Cenzo Townsend and string arrangements by Lars Horntveth.

Norway’s largest radio station NRK P1 has already announced it will add “Under The Makeup” to its high-rotation A-list, starting in week 29.

Links:
Official announcement on Facebook
VG article: Den nye a-ha-singelen er klar

S&M featured in NORD magazine

The cover of NORD magazine, June 2015

The cover of NORD magazine, June 2015

Magne Furuholmen and Simen Staalnacke are featured in a 7-page article in the summer issue of Norwegian food/lifestyle magazine NORD (#3/2015), in connection with their new drink and snacks company S&M Feelgood Factory.

The company, which was celebrated with a launch party in Oslo on May 7th, has a special focus on making non-alcoholic drinks, as explained in an article on a-ha.com.

In the NORD magazine interview, Magne says that he can really feel the positive effects after 3-4 months without alcohol:

“I feel healthy and happy, my head gets clearer and I can feel positive changes in my body. I encourage everyone to try longer periods without alcohol, if only to become more aware of its effects.”

“There are many people, focused on a healthy lifestyle, who would like to go out with their friends without necessarily drinking lots of alcohol every time. We want them to be able to sip a Holy Moly drink, instead of always ending up with a glass of soda and a straw.”

Magne and Simen in NORD magazine

Magne and Simen in NORD magazine

Their products available so far are:
– Holy Moly
– Holy Moly Energy
– Iced Tee
– Chill-i-Coffee
– Dos Amigos chips
– Retox chips

There are also several other S&M products coming soon, including Bloody Mary popcorn and Sweethearts sweet potato snacks.

“There are so many boring softdrinks and types of snacks out there, and we want to make something that’s more fun. What’s life without some humour?”, they say.

Links: Official website    S&M on Facebook    S&M on Instagram

Dates added in Russia, Latvia, Belarus and Luxembourg

An ad for the Moscow concert

An ad for the Moscow concert

Seven new dates on a-ha’s Cast In Steel Tour 2016 have now been announced:

6 March: Sports Palace, Yekaterinburg, Russia
8 March: Basket-Hall, Kazan, Russia
10 March: Ice Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia
12 March: Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia
15 March: Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia
17 March: Minsk Arena, Minsk, Belarus
27 April: Rockhal, Esch/Alzette, Luxembourg

Tickets are already on sale for St. Petersburg, Moscow and Esch/Alzette.
The links can be found on a-ha.com.

This will be the first a-ha concert ever in Luxembourg, although Morten performed there on the Night of the Proms Tour in 2013.

UK tour dates announced

Four a-ha tour dates in the UK in March 2016 were announced today:

25 March: Manchester Arena, Manchester, UK
26 March: O2 Arena, London, UK
28 March: The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, UK
29 March: Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, UK

There will be a presale tomorrow, 3 June, starting at 9am GMT. The general sale starts on Friday, 5 June, at 9am GMT.

Apparatjik to perform in Karlsruhe

Magne on stage with Apparatjik

Magne on stage with Apparatjik

Apparatjik will be performing a free concert at the Pavilion stage in Karlsruhe, Germany on September 12th. The concert is held as part of GLOBALE – 300 days of artistic events in connection with the 300th anniversary of Karlsruhe.

Some info from zkm.de:

“Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman, MEW singer Jonas Bjerre, the A-HA keyboard player Magne Furuholmen as well as the music producer Martin Terefe in a unique constellation: They have produced for the stage a unique show in which auction tickets for bidding are distributed among the public: one uniquely produced and mastered vinyl record will be auctioned, live on-site!”

Apparatjik’s latest project The Sound of Fosnavåg, performed together with The Norwegian Radio Orchestra at Fosnavåg Konserthus in October 2014, was broadcast on NRK P2 on May 20th – or at least parts of it. It can be heard online at radio.nrk.no, where it will be available until November 16th. There’s an interview with Magne at 1h 9mins, while the performance itself starts at 1h 16mins.

Magne and Steve Barron at The Arts Club

The new book cover, designed by Magne (Photo by Judith Heinrich)

The new book cover, designed by Magne
(Photo by Judith Heinrich)

Magne and director Steve Barron appeared at The Arts Club in London last Thursday, May 28th, to celebrate the release of a new special edition of Barron’s 2014 memoir Egg n Chips & Billie Jean: A Trip Through the 80s, for which Magne has designed the cover.

“I’ve read the book and it’s hilariously funny. And not just the parts that I was a part of (laughs). There are some amazing stories in there and I’m happy that you let me contribute a little bit with the cover”, Magne said.

Paul Stolper introduced the two of them, who talked for an hour about Barron’s work with a-ha – he directed eight music videos for the band between 1985 and 2010 – and the other music videos he’s done. Barron also read an extract from his book about the time he and the band were in Montana filming the “Crying In The Rain” video in 1990. Afterwards they did a little signing session.

Magne and Steve Barron signing books (Photo by Judith Heinrich)

Magne and Steve Barron signing books
(Photo by Judith Heinrich)

“The first three [a-ha] videos that you did, they were all your ideas. They were all you. We were kind of just kids coming in. We might have been allowed to say something about it, but we just kept ourselves back. I don’t think it was until Manhattan Skyline that we said ‘Steve, we really want to talk about our situation’. The media are referenced and Brazil – the Terry Gilliam film – about this guy disappearing in newspapers and we started interacting about [that concept]”, Magne said during the conversation.

Some photos from the event were posted by Paul Stolper on Instagram:
Photo 1    Photo 2    Photo 3

Thanks to Judith Heinrich for the info.

Kvint: a-ha album master delivered

Peter Kvint, who has been working on the new a-ha album Cast In Steel with Morten and Magne in Stockholm, posted an update on Facebook yesterday, saying that he was “celebrating delivery of A-ha album master”.

So the album seems to be on track for the promised September 4th release date. And it shouldn’t be too long until we get to hear the first single.

Buenos Aires concert added

Buenos Aires, March 4th

a-ha at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, March 2010

A concert in Argentina in September, taking place three days before Rock in Rio, was announced on Friday:

24 September: Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina

This will be the fourth concert a-ha have played at Luna Park. In 1991 the band did two concerts at the venue, while in 2010 they opened the Ending on a High Note Tour there, in front of 10,000 people.

“An incredible audience. We were carried forward on a wave of South American madness”, Magne said after the 2010 opening show. Now it looks like they may be opening the Cast In Steel Tour at Luna Park as well.

There will also be several other tour dates in South America in September/October, following Buenos Aires and Rio. This according to an Aftenposten article.

Even Ormestad is new a-ha bassist

Even Ormestad (picture from discogs.com)

Even Ormestad
(picture from discogs.com)

Even Ormestad, known from the band Jaga Jazzist, is playing bass guitar on the new a-ha album Cast in Steel and will join the band on stage on the whole 2015-2016 tour. This was revealed in a conversation on the official Jaga Jazzist Facebook page today.

Ormestad has been a musician and producer for a number of Norwegian bands and artists in recent years, including Sassybeat – which was signed and managed by a-ha manager Harald Wiik. Most recently he produced Daniel Kvammen’s well-received debut album Fremad i Alle Retninga.

a-ha have not had a bass player with them on tour since Sven Lindvall’s departure in 2007. On the 2009-2010 tours, keyboardist Erik Ljunggren only played bass guitar on a few select songs.

As previously known, Ormestad’s Jaga Jazzist bandmate Lars Horntveth has been working on string arrangements for the new a-ha album – two songs, to be precise, according to their Facebook page.

And as for the rest of the backing band on the Cast in Steel Tour, Karl Oluf Wennerberg has hinted on Instagram that he will still be behind the drums, at least at Rock in Rio this year.

Morten records new version of “Hunting High and Low”

Morten and Raghad Kanawati in Hemland, directed by Sara Broos

Morten and Raghad Kanawati in Hemland, directed by Sara Broos

The new short film Hemland, in which Morten appears together with Syrian refugee Raghad Kanawati, aired on SVT1 in Sweden yesterday.

The film includes a new, acoustic version of “Hunting High and Low” that Morten recorded with Peter Kvint at Studio Brun in Stockholm recently. In addition, “Brother” is played during the end credits.

Hemland is now available for viewing online at svtplay.se (until June 2nd).

Lars Horntveth working on new a-ha album

From Lars Horntveth's Instagram

From Lars Horntveth’s Instagram

Norwegian musician and composer Lars Horntveth, known from the bands Jaga Jazzist and The National Bank, has recently been working on string arrangements for the new a-ha album Cast in Steel, it seems.

Horntveth, who is currently based in Los Angeles, posted a picture on Instagram from a recording session for a-ha last week, April 24th:
“Done recording full orchestra in Macedonia from 6-10am via Skype in my garage in LA. Science fiction!”

In addition, he posted a picture of sheet music for a new song written by Paul.

Horntveth is also known for producing two of Susanne Sundfør’s critically acclaimed albums; The Brothel (2010) and The Silicone Veil (2012) – the latter of which included the lead single “White Foxes”.

“I really loved Susanne Sundfør’s “White Foxes””, Paul said in an interview last year.

Update: Per Lindvall and Peter Kvint are also busy working on the new a-ha album. On April 29th they did a recording session at the Atlantis Studio in Stockholm. Per Lindvall posted some info about the session on Facebook here, and Peter Kvint also posted some info here.

“My philosophy is to surround myself with truly talented people who make my work sound better than it actually is. Today with rhythm maestro Per Lindvall and sound guru Simon Nordberg. We recorded drums for a couple of new A-ha songs at Atlantis”, Kvint wrote.

New concert dates

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Two new dates on a-ha’s Cast In Steel Tour 2016 were announced this week:

  • 31 March: Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, Holland
  • 1 April: Le Zenith, Paris, France

This will be the 12th a-ha concert in Paris since 1986, and the 5th a-ha concert in Amsterdam since 1993.

The total number of concerts on next year’s Cast In Steel Tour is now 17, with many additional dates expected to be added.

Tickets for Paris and Amsterdam are available now from gdp.fr and ticketmaster.nl.

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