Magazine covers

a-ha are on the cover of the free Norwegian magazine MASSIV, which is out tomorrow. Three different covers will be available, featuring Morten, Magne and Paul. Inside the magazine there are in-depth interviews with each band member.

“This hasn’t been done in Norway before. The response so far indicates that the magazine could end up as a collectors item among the a-ha fanbase“, editor Magnus Rønningen tells Kampanje.

MASSIV is available at selected shops and hotels across Norway. A total of 40.000 magazines have been printed.

The new album has gone platinum in Norway after three days, Farojournalen reports. Which means that 30.000 copies have been sent out to retailers.

On the Norwegian singles chart, FOTM climbs up to number 11 this week – its highest position so far. On the radio airplay chart FOTM remains at number 2.

In Austria, a video show hosted by a-ha is set to air on the music channel GOTV. The show will air on 21, 25, and 27 June. A list of the videos that a-ha picked can be seen here.

Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman is credited as one of the photographers in the booklet of the new album. In an interview with Laut.de, Morten says that Guy took the picture of the mountain that the front cover is based on. It was taken on a mountain trip that Magne and Guy did.

In the same interview, Morten says that he has recently made some bronze sculptures for the Norwegian Refugee Council. Sculpting is something that Morten had wanted to do since he was a teenager.

Guy Berryman’s photos were also mentioned in the VG webchat that a-ha did today. The questions and answers (many of which are in English) are now available here.

Recent interviews:
HitRadio Ö3 – video clip (Austria)
Kurier – video clip (Austria)
Kleine Zeitung – video clip (Austria)
NRK P2 Kulturnytt – audio clip (Norway)
DiePresse.com (Germany)
morgenweb.de (Germany)
Kleine Zeitung (Austria)
Kurier (Austria)
Vienna Online (Austria)

And more album reviews:
Göteborgs-Posten (Sweden) – 4 out of 5
Now Magazine (Austria) – 4 out of 5
Gaffa (Denmark) – 4 out of 6
Plattentests (Germany) – 7 out of 10
letmeentertainyou.de (Germany) – 3 out of 5
Laut.de (Germany) – 3 out of 5
Bizarre Radio (Germany) – 14 out of 15
CDstarts.de (Germany) – 6.5 out of 10
Trønder-Avisa (Norway) – 5 out of 6
AB24 (Norway) – 4 out of 6
Avisa Nordland (Norway) – 4 out of 6
Romerikes Blad (Norway) – 3 out of 6
Nettavisen (Norway) – 3 out of 6

(Thanks to all the fans who have posted links in different forums)