Morten on the inspiration behind “Brother”

From the music video

From the music video

The “Brother” music video, which leaked online earlier this week, had its official premiere on VGTV in Norway today.

“Harald Zwart got the idea for the music video immediately after hearing the song for the first time. It’s based on a classic movie by the Swedish comedians Hasse & Tage. We have arranged for a copy of the video to be delivered to the Hasse & Tage museum”, Morten tells VG.

The song itself started with Peter Kvint getting the idea for the melody:

“It was developed from there and to its final version by Peter and myself. The lyrical identity came to me – at the same time – after having just read the biography of Majiid Nawaz, “Radical”, about growing up as a young muslim in England, faced with European, Western culture and politics, and his personal confrontation with fundamental values after years of going down an uncompromising and dangerous road internationally as an islamist. And then choosing an even more dangerous road later on”, Morten says.

“Brother” is about love and respect, as it is shown when recognizing everyone’s right to become who they are. About the right to follow your own conscience. “Brother” is about respecting diversity – and how this is a fundamental value”.

Morten to perform at Stavernfestivalen

Stavernfestivalen

Stavernfestivalen

Morten and his management really seem to be focusing on the Norwegian festival circuit this summer. Another concert was announced today; Morten will be performing at Stavernfestivalen 2014, which is held at Skråvika in Stavern from 10 – 12 July.

Although the exact date hasn’t been posted yet, it has to be July 10th, as Morten is playing other festivals on the 11th and 12th.

Other acts confirmed for Stavernfestivalen include Bob Dylan, Lars Winnerbäck, Kvelertak and Odd Nordstoga.

Some of you might be wondering about all the festivals in our country, but it’s almost like every little village has its own summer festival by now. Morten could have played at a new festival every day of the summer, if he wanted to.

If you want to see Morten live in Norway, but aren’t too keen on attending a festival, the concerts in Langesund (July 19th) or Rennebu (August 30th) could be an alternative. Those two are pure solo concerts, which could mean a more mature audience and a hopefully longer setlist.

Morten to perform in Rennebu

Yet another Norwegian summer concert was announced today. Morten will perform at the third annual Nerskog concert, held at Grovasetra in Rennebu, on 30 August.

Update: Tickets are now available on Billettservice.no.

“Brother” music video

From the music video

From the music video

Although the “Brother” music video hasn’t officially premiered yet, it has now started appearing on YouTube.

Apparently the video was posted prematurely on Vimeo by someone involved in the production, but has since been removed. The same thing happened with the video for “I’m The One”.

The music video was shot in Ernest E. Debs Regional Park in Los Angeles last month, and directed by Harald Zwart. The song itself is a heavily shortened edit version.

TV2 report from Abbey Road Studios

Magne at the mixing desk

Magne at the mixing desk

Two different news reports about Magne’s Beatles film score sessions at Abbey Road Studios in London have aired on TV2 in Norway over the last couple of days. The first one can be seen at tv2.no.

Among other things we could see a blues instrumental being recorded for one scene, with Magne on harmonica, Jonas Bjerre on piano and Martin Terefe on guitar. Magne was also recording piano and organ parts together with Kjetil Bjerkestrand and could be heard playing “Stay On These Roads” on the original “Lady Madonna” piano.

Recording a blues instrumental with Bjerre and Terefe

Recording a blues instrumental with Jonas Bjerre, Martin Terefe and others

As we know, Magne is using original instruments, microphones and other recording equipment used by The Beatles for these sessions.

“It’s mostly for the music nerds, including myself, that we decided to do it like this. The idea of creating a sort of time machine and walking into a room from the late 60s. It’s almost like a theatrical setup of the whole recording session”, Magne told TV2.

“I don’t want it to become too big and symphonic. I feel like I’m the unknown, melancholic member of The Beatles”, Magne said when he was interviewed at the by:Larm festival in Oslo last week.

Playing "Stay On These Roads" on the original "Lady Madonna" piano

Playing “Stay On These Roads” on the original “Lady Madonna” piano

When asked, Magne said that he hadn’t sought the advice of Paul McCartney:

“But I have informed him about it! He’s a thumbs-up guy, but it would only have scared me even more if I’d asked him to help out. It’s very different to write film music without lyrics, which is what normally drives me to release solo stuff.”

Linnea’s album: 3 songs by Paul

Linnea Dale’s upcoming second solo album is now scheduled for release in May, according to Aftenposten. It will include 3 songs written by Paul.

Last night, Linnea took part in the first Eurovision semi-final with the song High Hopes (not written by Paul), which got her qualified for next week’s final in Oslo Spektrum.

Update (14/3): The album release has been moved forward to April 25th, according to a Warner Music press release. The 11-track album is called Good Goodbyes and has been produced by Kim Edward Bergseth and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy.

‘Brother’ audio samples

Brother

Brother

 
30-second audio samples of all the songs on Morten’s new album Brother are now available on Amazon. Listen to them here.

Update: 90-second samples in better quality are now up on iTunes UK, Ireland etc. If you can’t find them in your local iTunes Store, just change the country.

Morten to perform at Hvalstrandfestivalen

Another festival concert was announced today: Morten will perform at the Hvalstrand Festival 2014 in Asker, which is held on 22-23 August. The exact date for the concert is not yet known. Update: It’s 23 August.

“Morten Harket will finally perform in his home town, and we are very proud that he’s chosen our festival!”, festival manager Fredrik Brodtkorb says.

Other artists confirmed for the festival include Sivert Høyem, Melissa Horn and Alphaville.

For a list of all the 2014 concerts announced so far, click here.

‘Brother’ tracklist and album cover

Album cover

Album cover

Morten’s upcoming album Brother, to be released on April 11th, is now available for pre-order through Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de.

Here’s the tracklist:
1. Brother
2. Do You Remember Me?
3. Safe with Me
4. Whispering Heart
5. Heaven Cast
6. There Is A Place
7. Oh What A Night
8. End Of The Line
9. Can’t Answer This
10. First Man To The Grave

For some reason “Did I Leave You Behind”, which Morten performed at every Night of the Proms concert, will not be included.

The final album cover doesn’t seem to be ready yet. So for now, the Amazon listings just include a combination of the “Brother” and “There is a Place” single covers.

Update: The cover art is now confirmed to be official, which is pretty shocking, considering how poor it looks. Was there no money left to hire a graphic designer?

Magne collaborates with Hvitmalt Gjerde on ‘Beatles’ score

Coming in August 2014

Coming in August 2014

Magne has recruited up-and-coming Norwegian band Hvitmalt Gjerde to record some of the music for the upcoming Beatles movie. Next week they’re going to London to do a session together at Abbey Road studios.

Magne revealed this at the by:Larm festival in Oslo yesterday, where he was interviewed about the movie together with musical supervisor Johan Husvik.

“Hvitmalt Gjerde has definitely got a clear and focused 60s sound already. I’ll try to keep the score song-based and will fight hard to give the movie a distinct character. I’m actually finding it a bit difficult to create this kind of music, which is supposed to be very underscoring in a way. But my goal is still to give the movie its own, defined 60s universe based on my ideas”, Magne said, according to Gaffa.com.

He hopes the surf-rockers in Hvitmalt Gjerde can add a youthful energy to the songs.

“The energy was one of the most important aspects of The Beatles, and hard to recreate”, Magne told Dagsavisen.

Magne seems reluctant to release the score on an album, but it may be made available online through his partnership with the streaming service Wimp.

A teaser for the movie, which premieres on August 29th, can be seen on YouTube.

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