Magne’s upcoming solo album White Xmas Lies can now be pre-ordered from Amazon UK (CD / 2LP), Amazon Germany (CD / 2LP), plus Tiger and Platekompaniet in Norway. Release date 25 October in Norway/Germany and 1 November in the UK.
The final album tracklist seems to have a different running order compared to the initital announcement. It also includes an additional song; a cover version of The Kink’s “Father Christmas”. So 17 tracks in total. A selection of pictures of the regular vinyl edition have been posted on Instagram by Magnus Rakeng, who designed the cover together with Magne.
A limited edition of the album on vinyl (200 copies), which includes an exclusive art print, is now sold out. A YouTube video filmed in August 2019 documents the process.
The second single from the album, “The Light We Lost”, was released by Drabant Music on 4 October and can be streamed or downloaded here. There’s also another lyric music video.
In an interview with Dagsavisen (paywall) yesterday, Magne says that the album project started with the title track, which he originally had intended for a-ha.
“The songs were written during a-ha’s Electric Summer tour, and recorded during Christmas. I started out alone, not thinking that it would end up as a double album, but it just kept growing.”
“This is meant to be a melancholic winter album, which will hopefully be uplifting. Some songs are specifically about Christmas, while others are loosely connected to winter.”
According to the interview, Magne will do one exclusive solo concert in connection with the new album. The concert will be held for an audience especially invited by the Norwegian Salvation Army – plus a few lucky fans.
“I didn’t intend to portray Christmas as all misery, but to make songs that can include everyone that aren’t as fortunate in life”, Magne says.
“I have an ambition to do the same in other cities later on. Meaning this project won’t come to an end once Christmas is over, but will return next year as well.”
The next and third single from the album seems to be “There Goes Another Year”, which is released in collaboration with the Norwegian Salvation Army on Magne’s birthday, 1 November.
No further details on the solo concert have been announced yet.