Archive for April, 2014

Morten on Weekend Wogan and Gaby Roslin

Morten with Terry Wogan (Picture by BBC Radio 2)

Morten with Terry Wogan
(Picture by BBC Radio 2)

Morten is now in the UK to promote his new album. This morning he was a guest on Weekend Wogan on BBC Radio 2, where he did two acoustic songs together with Dan Sunhordvik; “Do You Remember Me” and – as a tribute to Phil Everly – “Let It Be Me”. The performance is available here. More pictures here and here.

Later on he was a guest on Gaby Roslin’s show on BBC Radio London, where he did two more songs together with Dan; “Do You Remember Me” and “Safe With Me”. He also talked openly about being bullied as a child. The show can be heard here (for 7 days). Pictures here and here.

He also met Maajid Nawaz today, whose book Radical was a source of inspiration for the lyrics in “Brother”. “Just met A-Ha lead singer @mortenharket to thank him for writing new album-track “Brother” based on my memoir Radical”, Nawaz said in a message on Twitter.

The UK promo continues tomorrow with more radio interviews, plus a TV-appearance on ITV’s Lorraine. Check out mortenharket.com for the details.

Before going to London, Morten and Dan did another acoustic session for Radio Norge in Oslo on Friday. But I don’t know if it was broadcast live or recorded for later. Pat Sharp, who was also a guest, posted a selfie with Morten on Twitter. Additional pictures here and here.

Linnea Dale on working with Paul

Album cover

Album cover

“Better Without You”, the third single from Linnea Dale’s upcoming album, premiered on Norwegian radio a few days ago. This is one of the songs that she’s done together with Paul in New York.

In an interview on NRK P1’s Nitimen, Linnea talked about the experience of working with Paul:

“It was fabulous. I have enormous respect for him as a songwriter, so it was great to go over there. We started out with a pre-production session here in Oslo where we tested out some ideas, and then I flew over to New York and spent a week there a while later.”

It was Warner Music that brought Paul into the process. He has been busy moving to a new house recently:

“[The Waaktaar-Savoys] had just moved from Soho to a brownstone house in Brooklyn, so we were working in an improvised studio on the top floor. We had to stop recording every time a plane flew over head, as it wasn’t soundproof.”

Her upcoming album Good Goodbyes (April 25th) will also include two other songs written with Paul: “Sweet Life” and “With Eyes Closed”. Another song Paul mentioned in the a-ha.com Q&A, “Better Days”, must have been left out – unless the song title has changed.

“Better Without You” can be heard here (at 1:44:50).

Studio 1 concert on NRK1

From Studio 1

From Studio 1

Morten’s Studio 1 concert, which was taped in Oslo on February 24th, aired on NRK1 in Norway last night.

Six of the seven songs performed were included in the TV broadcast, which can be viewed online at tv.nrk.no: Whispering Heart / Brother / Do You Remember Me / Spanish Steps / A Kind Of Christmas Card / There Is A Place.

An additional song, Safe With Me, is available as a bonus video here.

Morten was joined on stage by Per Lindvall (drums), Christer Karlsson (keyboard), Peter Kvint (guitar) and Lars Danielsson (bass).

The concert will be repeated April 9th on NRK2.

Paul: New Savoy album in the works

Frode, Lauren and Paul in 2007.

Frode, Lauren and Paul in 2007.

The second part of the Q&A with Paul is now up on a-ha.com.

Not only is he working on the first Waaktaar album, there is also a new Savoy album to look forward to, Paul says:

“There is indeed a Savoy album in the works. We have lots of new songs recorded and we will finalize the album with our drummer, Frode, this summer. I also would like to release the whole Savoy catalogue on iTunes and Spotify as well as vinyl. So far, they’ve only been released on CD.”

He says his main focus will always be on releasing full albums:

“The album concept seems to be a bit washed out these days, but that’s what I grew up with so I’ll always have that as the main focus. However, it is fun to release a track like “Manmade Lake” and get an immediate reaction. I definitely want to do more of that.”

He also repeats what he’s said in the past, about how the idea to end a-ha felt like a business decision:

“The idea to end the band was forced. Not natural. It felt like a business decision to me. Just someone’s bright idea.
We can still play, still sing, we still have tons of songs to record.
And we still have a huge loving audience!
…crazy.”

Read all of his answers, including info about the cover image of “Manmade Lake”, what he’s been listening to lately and his thoughts on songwriting, over on a-ha.com.

For more updates from Paul, follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Soundcloud.

Morten to perform at Elvefestivalen

The festival dates keep coming; Morten was confirmed for Elvefestivalen in Drammen today, where he will perform on August 22nd. The Ylvis brothers will also appear at the festival. The ticket sale starts via Billettservice on April 7th.

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