Single cover

The Oslo-based, Swedish singer-songwriter Johanna Demker has released a new song called “Walk Me Through This Time of Year”, where she has written the lyrics together with Morten Harket.

In an interview with the newspaper Hadeland (paywall), Demker says that a common friend mentioned that perhaps she could try writing a song for Morten:

“I wrote a song that I felt would suit his voice. I brought it to a social gathering, where Morten Harket was also present. This is two-three years ago. I played it for Morten, and he immediately liked the song and its mood. He gave me some input on the lyrics, and after that we continued to work on them together. We communicated online, and the result are these lyrics that we have written together.”

Originally the plan was for Morten to record the song himself, but at the time he was working on another project. So the song was put on hold.

“But then Morten became ill and now he’s not releasing music anymore. That’s why I decided to release the song myself. People who have heard the song say they can hear that it’s written for Morten“, Demker tells Hadeland.

“Morten has heard the finished version and said that he really likes it.”

“Walk Me Through This Time of Year” is the second single off Demker’s upcoming seventh studio album. The song has been produced and mixed by Bjarne Stensli and mastered by George Tanderø.

Demker has posted some more insight about the song on her Instagram:

“Initially, this was not intended to be a Christmas song, but together we worked on the lyrics, talking about pain, hope, looking back- and into the future.

The song is about having something or someone to lean on when vulnerable, and about daring to let go. This feeling is often intensified during the christmas season, and I hope that the song can be a companion to “walk you through this time of year”.”