Archive for the ‘a-ha’ Category

Interview on Breakfast TV

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a-ha were interviewed on Sat1’s “Frühstücksfernsehen” (Breakfast TV) this morning.

The interview was actually taped yesterday, followed by interviews for the “Foot Of The Mountain” EPK-package and the Berlin-part of the music video shoot, which lasted all through the night.

 

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Magne about the music video:
It’s gonna be just a kind of an abstract take on the song, spliced together between two parts. One has a kind of more urban outlook, and one has a kind of longing for more open space. And I think it’s nice to incorporate that into the video. And it will sort of strengthen the two elements of the music.

 

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Paul about the new album:
We’ve sort of taken a different approach from the last two albums. A little bit…picking up some of our earlier electronic dabblings. So I think it’s a pretty good collection of music.

Thanks to Verni on the German forum, the 3-part interview is now up on YouTube:
Part 1     Part 2     Part3

 

A report from the music video shoot will be shown on the entertainment news show “Brisant” on Friday, May 22. The show airs on Das Erste/ARD.

Today the guys went to Cologne to start preparing for tomorrows performance on “Germany’s Next Top Model” at the Lanxess Arena.

Be sure to check a-ha’s updates on Twitter. One recent message says that the album master and artwork were delivered to the record company today. And the album tracklist is coming soon…

“Foot of the Mountain” video shoot

Morten, Olaf Heine and crew members taking a break.

a-ha are shooting the music video for “Foot Of The Mountain” in Germany today and tomorrow, with the German director Olaf Heine.

Today they were on the East coast, where updates and pictures from the video shoot appeared on a-ha’s Twitter page.

Tomorrow they will continue working on the video in Berlin.

And some new promotional pictures are now being published. They were taken in Brazil back in March by Stian Andersen:

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The week continues with TV-promotion:
– 20 May: “Frühstücksfernsehen” (Breakfast TV – broadcast on Sat1)
– 21 May: “Germany’s Next Top Model”, Lanxess Arena, Cologne (broadcast live on Pro7)
– 22 May: “The Dome”, Munich (broadcast 30 May on RTL 2)

“Foot Of The Mountain” album cover

A first look at the cover of the new album, designed by Martin Kvamme:

Album cover

Concert dates, album title and more

Magne and Morten in Chiswick, London last night

Magne and Morten in Chiswick, London last night

The upcoming concert dates in Germany and Norway are revealed in an interview with Magne and Morten in today’s paper edition of VG.

And the album title will be the same as the single: Foot Of The Mountain.

Read all the details plus Magne and Morten’s refreshing take on Norwegian journalists in a translation of the interview here.

Harald Wiik on “Foot of the Mountain” and concerts in Norway

a-ha manager Harald Wiik talks to Dagsavisen in another interview today. Here’s parts of it translated:

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It only took a few hours from a-ha had finished their new single, until it had been sent to radio stations across Europe. The band is now planning a new album and a big concert in Oslo.

On Thursday night a-ha were satisfied with a version of the new song “Foot Of The Mountain”. On Friday morning Harald Wiik brought the song to the Universal office – who liked the song so much that they decided to send it out as a single immediately. On Friday afternoon the song premiered on Norwegian radio – and was at the same time sent out to radio stations across the whole of Europe.

This is the right way of doing it in 2009. There was demand for a new a-ha single from radio stations all over Europe. That’s why we decided to distribute it immediately“, a-ha manager Harald Wiik says.

The quick release came as a surprise to many people, including Wiik himself, who didn’t have more details about the new album ready for publication when the song was distributed yesterday.

The name of the album has not been decided yet, but we’re assuming that it will be released on 19 June“, Wiik says.

The album will be released simultaneously in more than 20 European countries.

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During the autumn, they are planning several big concerts in Norway.

We have had many offers to do concerts in Norway, and they will be confirmed within the next week. There will be concerts in Oslo sometime in October/November“, Harald Wiik says.
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New a-ha single – “Foot Of The Mountain”

Single cover

Single cover

In a surprising move, a-ha and Universal Music decided to release the first single from the new album to radio stations in Norway today.

They are currently in the studio, and the single was finished last night“, a-ha manager Harald Wiik tells Dagbladet. “We have to turn around quickly, that’s how it’s become in this business“.

We took a decision very quickly, and saw no reason to wait“, he adds to Bergens Tidende.

“Foot Of The Mountain” was written by Magne and Paul, and is basically Magne’s solo song “The Longest Night” from 2008 with a new chorus.
It’s been produced by Roland Spremberg, who co-produced Minor Earth | Major Sky back in 2000. The mixing was done by Steve Osborne at Real World Studios and it was mastered at Metropolis in London.

The single will be available to buy on either 4 May or 11 May, I think. And the new album is set to be released on 22 June“, Wiik says.

a-ha will continue to work on the new album, using studios in Oslo, Stockholm og New York.

The press release is available on a-ha.com, and “Foot Of The Mountain” can be heard here.

 
In other news, a-ha will appear on a few German TV-shows next month – presumably performing the new single:

22 May: “The Dome”, RTL2 (taped in Munich)
30 May: “Germany’s next Topmodel” – final, Pro7 (taped in Cologne)

Single and tour update

Jenn on the German forum provided a few updates today (loosely translated):

– The first single is not one of the three songs that have been performed live.
But the song title is yet to be confirmed. Info about the radio premiere will hopefully follow soon.

-The German tour dates for October have now been set, and will be announced at the beginning of May.

Santiago concert

a-ha in Santiago (Picture by Carlos Muller)

a-ha in Santiago
(Picture by Carlos Muller)

a-ha played the last concert of their South American mini-tour yesterday, when they headlined the fifth day of the Pepsi Music Festival in Santiago, Chile, playing for an audience of more than 14.000 people at the Movistar Arena.

After Blondie and Rick Astley had finished their sets, a-ha came on stage after midnight.

A short video clip of “Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale” can be seen on the website of Terra TV. And here is a HD clip of “I’ve Been Losing You”.

More pictures from the concert are available on Flickr, here and here.

And another video report from Brazil earlier in the week is now up on YouTube.

Rio concert

Paul on stage in Rio

Paul on stage in Rio

a-ha played at the Citibank Hall in Rio de Janeiro last night. The setlist was the same as in Sao Paulo.

A Twitter message from the band after the show said: “Great audience tonight! Helped us to get over technical problems! Hope you njoyd anyway.. Night night!“.

Large parts of the concerts can now be found on YouTube. A user called “cybertechno” has uploaded many video clips here.

Links to Rio reviews and pictures:
A-HA relembra sucessos e baladas em show no Rio
A-Ha faz show pasteurizado para seis mil pessoas no Rio
A-ha se apresenta para publico carioca

A HD-quality video clip of the elusive new song “What There Is” is now finally up on YouTube. The song uses the melody from Timbersound’s “Ti Kniver i Hjertet” movie theme from 1994.

TV Norge had a small report from the Rio concert in the Friday edition of “Spotlight”, which can be seen here (starts after 4.25 minutes).

And a Sao Paulo interview with a-ha (in English) from TV Amaury is available here (starts after 2.30 minutes).

From Sao Paulo to Rio

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The Brazilian press has been following the band closely in the last few days. Here they are meeting fans outside their hotel in Sao Paulo yesterday:
Integrantes da banda A-Ha sao cercados por fas na saida do hotel

And arriving at the airport in Rio earlier today:
Integrantes do grupo A-Ha ja estao no Rio de Janeiro

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