a-ha on Brisant
30-second audio samples of all ten songs on the upcoming album are now available on Amazon.de.
And the “Brisant” report which was originally scheduled to air last Friday was shown on SAT1 today. Although most of the footage is from 2005, we also get a glimpse from the FOTM video shoot in Berlin last week.
The “Brisant” clip can be seen on YouTube here.
a-ha are set to perform at the 2009 Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards in London next Friday, June 5.
According to Billboard, “the 14th annual radio awards will be held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel and hosted by Absolute Radio DJ Christian O’Connell. The event, organized by U.K. industry body RadioCentre, recognizes excellence and talent in the commercial radio industry.”
Chart positions for “Foot Of The Mountain” in Norway so far:
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Hit 40 |
Topp 20 |
And be sure to read these interesting new interviews on a-ha.com:
– Martin Kvamme on the new a-ha cover designs
– Short interview with Karl Oluf Wennerberg
Picture from Dagbladet
Dagbladet has an interview with a-ha in today’s paper edition.
They talk about the new album, the new music video and promotion plans.
Morten says about the new album:
“This album represents a clear decision when it comes to choosing a specific direction. We have tried to limit ourselves and returned to a more synth-based sound. That’s been a wonderful thing to do. I see it as a revitalization of us as band.”
A full translation of the Dagbladet interview is now available here.
Morten on stage in Munich last night.
a-ha performed “Foot Of The Mountain” at the 50th edition of the music show “The Dome” last night, which was taped at the Olympiahalle in Munich.
Other acts performing included the Norwegian Eurosong-winner Alexander Rybak, Black Eyed Peas and Pet Shop Boys.
The show will be broadcast on RTL2 on 30 May.
And “Foot Of The Mountain” is included on a double CD called The Dome Vol.50, which is released in connection with the show on 29 May. The song is also included on a 3-CD limited edition version of the release.
a-ha performing in Cologne tonight
a-ha performed “Foot Of The Mountain” at the big finale of “Germany’s Next Top Model” tonight, in front of 15.000 people in the audience at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.
The show, hosted by Heidi Klum, was also watched live on TV by millions.
Several clips of a-ha’s performance are now up on YouTube.
(Thanks to the uploaders!)
A press release posted on Bandweblogs.com reveals that the upcoming album Foot Of The Mountain will be released in the UK on 13 July. And the single gets a UK release the week before, July 6.
Paul says about the single lyrics:
“It’s the dilemma of loving a city life, yet secretly wondering if we’d be happier being surrounded by open fields and sweeping mountains.“
Producer Mark Saunders provides some info about the new album on the blog of Beat360 Studios:
“Late last year Mark worked on A-Ha’s eagerly anticipated next record ‘Foot of the mountain’ at both Water Music studios in Hoboken, Jersey as well as our own BEAT360 facility in Manhattan. This last week it has been confirmed that Mark is credited producer on four of the album tracks. ‘Riding the crest’ ‘Real Meaning’ ‘What there is’ and ‘Sunny Mystery’. The record is to be released sometime in June and the guys play a number of arena tours throughout Europe later in the year.”
Some additional info about the album:
Paul has written 4 of the songs, while Magne and Paul have co-written 5 songs.
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Here is the Foot of the Mountain album tracklist, as posted on a-ha.com:
1. The Bandstand
2. Riding The Crest
3. What There Is
4. Foot Of The Mountain
5. Real Meaning
6. Shadowside
7. Nothing Is Keeping You Here
8. Mother Nature Goes To Heaven
9. Sunny Mystery
10. Start The Simulator
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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…
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)
