a-ha have announced that they will be performing three concerts in Brazil and Chile in March. These are the first concerts in Brazil since 2002, while they last visited Chile in 2006. Here are the confirmed dates and venues:

25 March: Credicard Hall, Sao Paulo, Brazil
26 March: Citibank Hall, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
28 March: Pepsi Music Festival, Movistar Arena, Santiago, Chile

a-ha in Porto Alegre, Brazil (August 2002)

“South America and a-ha have had a long-lasting love affair, but it hasn’t always been the right time to go there. This is the right time”, a-ha manager Harald Wiik says about the upcoming concerts in a VG interview.

He also says that this will be an early start of the next a-ha period, which also includes tours in other parts of the world and not least a new album.

“The album is now scheduled for release on 19 June, but that may be subject to change”, Wiik reveals. He also confirms that several producers are involved on the new a-ha album, but it’s too early to mention any names.

“There is lots of material in different versions, but the final selections have not yet been made”, he says of the song material.

Update: In another interview with Dagbladet, Wiik offers a few hints about the sound on the new album: “It will be more synth-based than the last few albums. They are going back to their roots – to the 80s.”