Archive for the ‘Magne’ Category

Living With Ourselves art vinyl now shipping

Art by Magne on both the cover and the record itself

Fans in many countries are now starting to receive the Living With Ourselves Limited Edition Art Vinyl, which was sold exclusively through Magne’s official website on November 1st. Only 200 copies were available and sold out instantly.

The album comes in a gatefold sleeve, numbered and signed by Magne. He has also personally mixed the colours of each individual vinyl record. Additionally, the package includes a unique monotype print (12×12 cm, signed and numbered on the back) from the Past Perfect Future Tense period, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of that album.

The album includes all the 11 tracks listed on a-ha.com recently, but has a different running order. It opens with “Look how far we haven’t come” and ends with a cover version of TOTO’s “Hold the line”.

Living With Ourselves is released on Magne’s own label Passion Fruit Records, while the record itself was pressed at T-Time Vinyl Plant in Stavanger, Norway, where Magne and producer Bjarne Stensli are among the co-owners.

A regular edition of the album on vinyl or CD has not been announced so far.

Vinyl album tracklist:

Side A
1. Look how far we haven’t come
2. One 4 all and all 4 none
3. Living with ourselves
4. God is in the details
5. Teo’s theme [instrumental]
6. Time is on your side

Side B
7. White horses
8. World so strange
9. You won (and then some)
10. Giving in to christmas
11. Hold the line [TOTO cover]

More music and podcast episodes from Magne

Cover image

The second track from Magne’s upcoming solo album Living With Ourselves is out now, on all streaming platforms.

Entitled “Look How Far We Haven’t Come”, the song features backing vocals by Tini Flaat.

Also available now is episode 6 – 11 of Magne’s new interview podcast in English, hosted by Ørjan Nilsson. Although originally planned to be released weekly, Magne decided to share the whole series now. He explained on Instagram:

“since my plan of releasing one podcast episode pr song (through some glitch) went south and 5 episodes were released all at once, i will heed my own advice and
‘learn to make better mistakes’ 😂🤷‍♂️
hence, the last 5 episodes of this will be released on the coming friday – unless gremlins in the system also puts this new plan to shame!!”

Magne performs at Porsche car center

Performing “Take On Me”, with artwork by Magne as backdrop, November 7th.
(Screenshot from Instagram video)

Magne performed live at the 5th anniversary of Porsche Center Asker & Bærum in Billingstad on November 7th, for a group of invited guests. He was joined by Martin Halla on vocals and Dan Sunhordvik on guitar.

Magne’s art was also on display in the showroom, including the massive glass sculpture “Sub Sea” and a Porsche Macan decorated with his design.

A selection of pictures have been posted on Instagram by Modus Design, who helped organize the event. The post also includes a video clip of “Take On Me” performed acoustically.

This is not Magne’s first collaboration with his local Porsche center. In 2021 he held an exhibition of 23 large graphic prints inspired by classic Porsche racing cars there. He has also decorated cars before, a Porsche 718 GT4 in 2021 and a BMW i8 in 2016.

Last night’s event is the latest of several mini-concerts Magne has done this autumn. He also performed at a private event in Oslo on 17 september, but with a full band set-up featuring Karl Oluf Wennerberg, Even Ormestad, Erik Ljunggren, Dan Sunhordvik, Tini Flaat and Martin Halla.

New Magne song and podcast now available

Single cover, artwork by Magne

The first song and title track from Magne’s upcoming fourth solo album Living With Ourselves was released on his birthday, Friday 1 November. The song is available on Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music and other streaming services, with another new song from the album to follow each Friday in the coming weeks.

The song is accompanied by a new podcast in English called “no animals were hurt during the recording of this series”, which features Magne in conversation with Norwegian journalist and author Ørjan Nilsson. There will be one weekly episode for each song on the new album, eleven in total. But the first five episodes already seem to be up. They are available through Acast.com and other platforms such as Spotify.

Ørjan Nilsson has also written a new book about Magne which will be published in Norwegian in 2025. It is based on several interview sessions done in Norwegian over the last couple of years. Nilsson has previously written books about Paul (2017) and Morten (2019), and this new book will therefore complete a sort of “a-ha trilogy”.

On 1 November a special ltd edition art vinyl of Magne’s upcoming solo album “Living With Ourselves” was also made available to order from his official website. Featuring a signed and numbered 12″ gatefold LP, where each vinyl record has been personally colour-mixed by Magne, along with a signed MF original art print. Only 200 copies were up for sale, and sold out within minutes. Hopefully there will also be a regular vinyl and CD release later.

These songs will be on the album, according to a-ha.com:

living with ourselves
look how far we haven’t come
white horses
world so strange
god is in the details
time is on your side
giving in to christmas
teo’s theme
hold the line
you won (and then some)
one 4 all and all 4 none

Magne details new solo album and podcast

Picture by Carlos Maciá

In a new update posted on a-ha.com, Magne has shared more details about his upcoming solo album “Living With Ourselves”; the recording process, the unconvenient delay due to Covid and the current release strategy.

“i have decided that a staggered release of songs later in the year leading up to christmas and beyond is that way to go, and to record a weekly podcast episode to go along with the release of each song”, Magne writes.

He is also inviting fans to submit questions for the podcast:

“for this podcast i would warmly welcome questions from you all – if you could please submit them to editor@a-ha.com before september 20th. ask me whatever. i’ll try to answer questions to the best of my ability..”

He also hints about “a limited physical release to be announced shortly” and plans to “celebrate music with you all in 2025 in some live format or another”.

Visit a-ha.com to read the whole update, which includes new song titles and a series of photos from the recording session in France in June 2023.

Magne performs at Fjord Cadenza

Live at Fjord Cadenza, 31 August
(Screenshot from video by Miyuki Ishihara)

Magne has spent the week in the Ålesund area on the Norwegian west coast, being this year’s festival artist at Fjord Cadenza in the nearby village of Skodje.

Rehearsals started out on Monday at Ocean Sound Recordings on the island of Giske, the same location a-ha used for their 2017 MTV Unplugged performance. He was joined by Martin Halla and Tini Flaat on vocals, Dan Sunhordvik on guitar and the Animato String Quartet.

On Wednesday, 28 August, Magne’s festival exhibition “New Song” opened in Skodje, which included a mini-concert in a tent set up outside the gallery. The festival has posted an extensive photo gallery from the event on Facebook, and an audience member has posted a couple of video clips on Instagram; “Stay On These Roads” and “Take On Me” (the clips have since been made unavailable).

The main event followed on Saturday, 31 August; a festive concert held at Gomerhuset, featuring a set by Magne and his musicians, a solo set by Anneli Drecker, and all backed by The Norwegian Naval Forces Band. According to people who were in the audience, Magne performed two new songs from his upcoming solo album called Living With Ourselves; the title track and “Time Is On Your Side”. The latter song was among the demos Magne posted on Instagram in 2021. The festival website has been referring to Magne’s new solo album as Magnefied, but this week Magne said on Instagram it’s actually called Living With Ourselves.

Here is the setlist, with a few video clips (courtesy of Miyuki Ishihara):

1. Living With Ourselves
2. Time Is On Your Side
3. You Have What It Takes
4. Stay On These Roads
5. Take On Me

“Yesterday’s concert was fantastic, thanks to this team. Let’s do it again!”, Tini Flaat posted next to a backstage photo on Instagram on 1 September.

Fjord Cadenza has also posted a large photo gallery from yesterday’s concert on Facebook.

Performing “Stay On These Roads” on 28 August
(Screenshot from video by Bente Wangsmo)

In an interview with the Ålesund news site AESby.no earlier this week, Magne explained the background for his appearance at the festival:

“I was initially asked to hold an exhibition at the festival, which I agreed to. But then the conductor and artistic director for the festival, Rune Bergmann, contacted me. We have worked together before, both with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and abroad with that supergroup of mine, Apparatjik. He wanted to collaborate on something again and told me more about Fjord Cadenza – that it’s mostly a festival for classical music, but also includes a selection of other artists. I told him that I had a solo album that was supposed to have been finished last year, but that I had been completely knocked out for half a year due to long Covid. Maybe we could have a release concert at the festival?”

In the end, it wouldn’t be a release concert, as his new solo album has been pushed back and won’t be out until closer to Christmas. But Magne still promised a special performance:

“I have selected a few songs from my whole career, from “Take On Me” up until present day, re-arranged them and made new versions. This is the first time I’ll be performing with The Norwegian Naval Forces Band, so that will be something special. On the a-ha songs I won’t be doing the lead vocals, so I have brought along Martin Halla, who won The Voice in the season I was a mentor. Also Tini, who was part of that same season of The Voice and who sings a duet with me on my latest album, will be part of the concert”

In the interview, Magne also talked about how the events of the world in the last few years, like the pandemic and the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza have affected him, both as a human being and as an artist:

“I have become a grandfather and can’t say I’m too optimistic about what the future holds… But I feel I also have my own responsibilities in that regard. In a band situation there are compromises and more carefullness when it comes to personally motivated messages, but when I’m on my own I can speak about what’s important to me, and use my contacts to get the message across. I’m also far more outspoken, more political and less optimistic in my own lyrics than in the lyrics I’ve written for a-ha. At the same time, I still have hope for the future, because there are many good people who are working hard to come up with good solutions”.

Magne to premiere new solo music at Fjord Cadenza festival 2024

Ad from Fjord Cadenza’s Facebook page.
Picture by Nina Djærff.

The Norwegian festival Fjord Cadenza (28 August – 1 September) has announced Magne Furuholmen will be this year’s festival artist.

Fjord Cadenza is a culture festival mainly focused on classical music and a selection of contemporary music and art. It is held in the village of Skodje, a 30-minute drive from the city of Ålesund on the west coast.

In addition to presenting an art exhibition (28 Aug – 1 Sep) of woodcuts and ceramic works, Magne will headline a festive concert at the local culture house Gomerhuset on 31 August, where he’ll perform new songs from his upcoming solo project “Magnefied” and a selection of a-ha songs – joined by guest vocalists Martin Halla and Tini Flaat.

In addition to Magne, Anneli Drecker will do a set of her own songs and The Norwegian Naval Forces Band will perform a selection of classical music, conducted by Rune Bergmann.

Tickets for the event are available now at fjordcadenza.no. The venue has a capacity of only 350 people and tickets are selling fast.

Update 13/8: The main concert on 31 August is now sold out, but the festival has announced Magne will also do a free mini-concert at the opening of his art exhibition on 28 August. More info on the festival website.

Magne planning album release in August

Live in Barcelona 2022
(Photo by Carlos Maciá)

Magne has revealed on Instagram that he’s planning to release his new solo album in August this year. Alongside some new photos with babygoats on the farm he co-owns on the island of Stormolla in Lofoten, Norway, he writes:

“with your help i am planning some sort of release of my new album 31st of august in norway. should really have happened last year, but hey – longcovid was no joke!”

In early 2023 Magne was working on the album in his home studio with producer Bjarne Stensli, who also produced 2019’s White Xmas Lies. Later he and Stensli were joined by Karl Oluf Wennerberg and Even Ormestad for a recording session at Magne’s holiday home in Vence, Southern France, in June 2023. This is also where he recorded A Dot Of Black In The Blue Of Your Bliss back in 2007.

It will be interesting to see if Magne is planning to perform live in connection with the album release, like he did with White Xmas Lies.

What we do know is that on 12 September there will be a Q&A session with Magne at Aker Tech House, the recently opened office building located right next to his “Imprints” sculpture park at Fornebu. The event will be hosted by legendary Norwegian footballer Jan Åge Fjørtoft, who now works for Aker Property Group. It’s not clear if it’s open to the public, but more info is to follow. Update 14/8: Aker says the event is “Only available for people working at the campus at Fornebuporten”.

Magne has been keeping a low profile so far this year, apart from a few appearances. On 10 February he attended the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) event at Telenor Arena near Oslo, where he could be seen in the TV broadcast during the match between Casper Ruud and Nicolai Kjær.

While on 11 April he visited Høyenhall School at Manglerud, where four of his artworks were added to the school’s art collection. Both Magne and Paul went to primary school at Høyenhall in the late 60s/early 70s, and there is now a conference room called “Furuholmen” and another conference room called “Waaktaar”, named after its two most famous students.

One who’s been keeping an even lower profile recently is Morten Harket, who made his last public appearence in October 2022. But he’s been seen out and about occasionally, most recently at IKEA in Oslo last weekend, 4 May. Regina Crosby Haug, an American filmmaker living in Norway who’s also the founder of the OneWhale organization, ran into Morten there and posted a picture with him on her Instagram.

Morten and Magne on BBC Disclosure

Røstvik, Hauge, Harket, Furuholmen

Morten and Magne, along with professor Harald N. Røstvik and environmental activist Frederic Hauge, appeared in an episode of the current affairs series Disclosure that aired on BBC Scotland on 2 November.

In the episode, entitled “Electric Cars – Ready for the Charge?”, reporter Kevin Keane travels to Oslo to interview the four of them about Norway’s electric car revolution. In the first half of 2022, 78% of all new cars sold in Norway were fully electric.

As many will know, Morten and Magne joined Røstvik and Hauge in importing the first electric car to Norway in 1989 and then went on to campaign for special incentives to be introduced, eventually leading to Norway becoming the global leader in electric vehicle adoption.

The segment from Oslo was filmed in late September and has been uploaded to YouTube here. There is also an article about it on BBC.com.

Magne turns 60

Happy Birthday to Magne Furuholmen, who turns 60 on November 1st!

Happy Birthday!

In a recent interview with 80s80s Radio in Germany, Magne said that he’s been working on a personal project to mark the occasion:

“On the actual day I’m just gonna have a dinner with my wife and kids, and I’m not gonna do a big celebration actually.

I kind of had an idea that I wanted to choose 60 interesting people that I’ve met over my life and just have conversations with them, and write it down or record it and then have it transcribed for coming generations. Not public, but for my children and their children.

But I thought I’d do a bit of summing up of what did these relationships mean and why did we stay in touch over the years. And these are people from many different areas of my life, some are from the music industry, some are from the art world, some are from finance, some are just random friendships that happened along the way.

So for me the idea of having a big celebration – nah, I’m kind of done with that. I did that when I was 50, and I think that was enough.”

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