Posts Tagged ‘brother’

‘Brother’ limited edition vinyl release

Brother limited edition vinyl

Brother limited edition vinyl

Morten’s Brother album was released on vinyl by Universal Music Norway earlier this month, January 7th, without much fanfare.

This is a limited edition 180 gram vinyl release, featuring a different cover image than last year’s CD version, with embossed details. It comes with a 4-page inner sheet that has a variety of stills from the “Do You Remember Me?” music video by Stian Andersen on the front and back, with lyrics and credits inside. The album itself has been remastered for vinyl by Tim Young at Metropolis Mastering.

The vinyl can be ordered from Platekompaniet.no and BigDipper.no (only ships within Norway) and CDON.com (only ships within Europe).

Berlin concert, May 8th

Columbiahalle, Berlin, May 8th. Per Lindvall, Morten, Lars Danielsson, Christer Karlsson and Peter Kvint. (Picture by Petra Zerbe)

Columbiahalle, Berlin, May 8th.
Per Lindvall, Morten, Lars Danielsson, Christer Karlsson and Peter Kvint.
(Picture by Petra Zerbe. Click to enlarge.)

The third concert of Morten’s Brother tour was held at the Columbiahalle in Berlin yesterday, with around 2000 people in the audience.

YouTube videos:
When I Reached The Moon   Oh What A Night   Safe With Me   End Of The Line
Lay Me Down Tonight   Did I Leave You Behind   Let It Be Me

Photo galleries:
Getty Images   berlin.de   sheila-wolf.de

Offenbach is the last stop in Germany tonight, before the tour moves on to Holland, Belgium, France and the UK.

Several fans have asked for details on new merchandise, but there doesn’t seem to be any merch for sale, at least not in Germany.

Cologne concert, May 6th

Cologne, May 6th (Picture from ruhrnachrichten.de)

Cologne, May 6th
(Picture from ruhrnachrichten.de)

The tour continued in Cologne yesterday, where Morten and his band played for around 1000 people at the E-Werk venue. The setlist appears to have been the same as in Hamburg.

YouTube live videos posted so far include Do You Remember Me, Oh What A Night, Darkspace, Whispering Heart and Let It Be Me.

If you look at the video of “Darkspace”, you’ll notice Morten has altered some of the lyrics since he last performed the song in 2008.

There is also a photo gallery from Cologne at ruhrnachrichten.de and review at rundschau-online.de.

Meanwhile, “Brother” climbs from #19 to #15 in its third week on the German album chart.

Brother tour opens in Hamburg

Morten on stage at Laeiszhalle last night, with Lars Danielsson (left). (Picture from oldie95.de)

Morten on stage at Laeiszhalle last night, with Lars Danielsson (left).
(Picture from oldie95.de)

Morten’s 2014 solo tour opened at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Germany last night. He was backed by Per Lindvall (drums), Christer Karlsson (keyboard), Peter Kvint (guitar) and Lars Danielsson (bass). “We had a great great time – thanks to all you wonderful fans!”, Peter Kvint said in an update on his website.

Update: A video of the whole concert has now been posted on Vimeo.

Here is the setlist, with links to live videos:

1. Do You Remember Me?
2. Oh What A Night
3. Spanish Steps
4. End Of The Line
5. Darkspace
6. Did I Leave You Behind
7. When I Reached The Moon
8. Lay Me Down Tonight
9. Should The Rain Fall
10. Shooting Star
11. Safe With Me
12. There Is A Place
13. Wild Seed
14. Los Angeles
15. Whispering Heart
—————–
16. Brother
17. A Kind Of Christmas Card
18. Let It Be Me (Everly Brothers cover, duet with Peter Kvint)

This means the setlist included 7 songs from Brother, 5 songs from Wild Seed, 3 songs from Letter From Egypt, 1 song from Out Of My Hands, 1 unreleased song (“Did I Leave You Behind”) and 1 cover version (“Let It Be Me”). No a-ha songs this time, thankfully!

Three of the songs had their live premieres last night; “Oh What A Night” and “End Of the Line” from Brother and “Should The Rain Fall” from Letter From Egypt. In addition, “Darkspace” and “Shooting Star” were played live for the first time since 2008.

Five of the songs (“Spanish Steps”, “When I Reached The Moon”, “Lay Me Down Tonight”, “Wild Seed” and “A Kind Of Christmas Card”) were also performed on the 2012 tour.

There is a photo gallery from the concert at oldie95.de.

Brother enters at #1 in Norway

Straight in at number 1

Straight in at number 1

Morten’s new album Brother has entered the Norwegian album chart VG Lista Topp 40 at number 1 today.

This is his fourth solo album to reach number 1 in Norway, following Wild Seed (1995), Letter From Egypt (2008) and Out Of My Hands (2012).

In the UK, the album initially appeared on the midweek chart at #23, but has since fallen down to #32 and then #39.

Update: Brother enters the UK album chart at #56, with first-week sales of 1,461 copies. In comparison, Out Of My Hands sold 3,454 copies in its first week two years ago.

Update II: Brother is “album of the week” on the Ken Bruce show on BBC Radio 2, from 21 – 25 April.

Morten interviewed by Vårt Land and NTB

"This album is a tribute to the diversity among us", Morten tells Vårt Land.

“This album is a tribute to the diversity among us”, Morten tells Vårt Land.

A few additional interviews with Morten have appeared in the Norwegian press today.

In its album review on Friday, the Christian newspaper Vårt Land wrote that “Brother is without a doubt his most existential, wonderingly, even sacral and religious album that he’s made on his own”.

Today’s interview follows up on that notion. Here is one quote:

“Our reviewer feels that the lyrics on this album are deeper than in a long time. Is it your Christian background that shines through?

– Absolutely. I still have the same Christian faith that I grew up with, but I can’t use that as a starting point, because I wish to communicate with people who don’t share the same faith. That means my starting point can’t be that God created us, that Jesus is his son and that he gave his life for us. If I am to communicate, I need to start somewhere else and trust that these things will get across on their own, which I believe they will. I strongly believe that the search process in itself is valuable. It’s the questions that make us spiritual people, not the answers. There are no eternal answers, only eternal questions. Christians will also benefit from questioning everything. Including the scriptures and the history. That will make you a true child of God”, Morten says.

In an interview with NTB, available at dt.no, Morten talks about the upcoming festival tour in the summer and how it turned into more than he first imagined:

“I agreed to do a few, and then it turned into a lot. (…) It will be interesting. I haven’t done many festivals before. And we mostly did our own concerts with a-ha. I said I wanted to give it a try, and now I’m suddenly staring at this really long list”, Morten says with a slightly self-deprecating grin.”

In other news, Morten will be a guest on Sounds of the 80s on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday, April 19th. And a-ha.com has announced plans for a 2014 fan weekend in Oslo on November 14-15, which would include “a fan party on November 14 and an ‘intimate’ concert with Morten”.

Brother album available now

The CD features cover design by Jeri Heiden and photos by Just Loomis

The CD features cover design by Jeri Heiden and photos by Just Loomis

Morten’s new album Brother is released in Norway, Germany, Austria and Switzerland today. The UK release is on Monday.

Morten spent yesterday meeting the Norwegian press at The Thief hotel in Oslo, which has resulted in interviews in Aftenposten, Dagbladet, Dagsavisen, Adresseavisen and Budstikka today.

There is also a 7-page interview in Dagens Næringsliv’s weekend magazine. It has been posted online at dn.no as well.

Today he’s done more radio promo, starting with Nitimen on NRK P1, where he did an acoustic version of “Do You Remember Me” with Dan Sunhordvik. The interview and performance can be heard on nrk.no. There is also a picture and a video clip from the rehearsals on Nitimen’s Facebook page. Later on he was a guest on Michael Direkte on P4, a few audio clips have been posted on p4.no.

Morten and Dan have also done a live session for VGTV. The performances of “Do You Remember Me” and “There Is A Place” can be viewed at vgtv.no.

Some of the coverage in today's newspapers

Some of the coverage in today’s newspapers

The album reviews are generally favorable, with Aftenposten (5/6) being the most positive so far. “The title track’s longing melancholy, naked sensitivity and timeless reflection on the term identity, sets the standard”, Aftenposten’s reviewer writes. He also mentions the “believable intensity of the songs” and how Morten “has let the music develop naturally and harmonically” this time.

Vårt Land’s reviewer feels it’s “without a doubt his most existential, wonderingly, even sacral and religious album that he’s made on his own”.

Bergens Tidende feels the album is “a step in the right direction”, compared to “the forgettable Out Of My Hands”. Drammens Tidende expects the album to be a commercial success, “because of the many catchy, radio-friendly songs”. Bergensavisen highlights the songs “Whispering Heart”, “Brother” and “There Is A Place”, but feels “the album is a little uneven as a whole”, partly because of the lyrics.

Both VG and Dagbladet (3/6) are rather lukewarm in their reviews. “Brother has been produced to death by the Swede Peter Kvint; who I’m sure is a nice guy, but why should Morten f***in’ Harket work with these anonymous, mediocre collaborators?”, VG’s reviewer asks. Dagbladet feels that the album “starts well, but fades away into a series of semi-ballads that don’t take him anywhere he hasn’t been before”.

Here are all the reviews so far:

Aftenposten (5/6)

Bergens Tidende (4/6)   Bergensavisen (4/6)   Adresseavisen (4/6)
Drammens Tidende (4/6)   Fædrelandsvennen (4/6)

VG (3/6)   Dagbladet (3/6)   Dagsavisen (3/6)

Over on a-ha.com, the Q&A with Peter Kvint has now been posted. “We had fifteen finished songs (written and produced) and out of those we chose the ten songs that made it to the album. Some of the other songs (like “Did I leave you behind”) will be released later in some form”, he says in one answer. Read the whole thing here.

Morten on Weekend Wogan and Gaby Roslin

Morten with Terry Wogan (Picture by BBC Radio 2)

Morten with Terry Wogan
(Picture by BBC Radio 2)

Morten is now in the UK to promote his new album. This morning he was a guest on Weekend Wogan on BBC Radio 2, where he did two acoustic songs together with Dan Sunhordvik; “Do You Remember Me” and – as a tribute to Phil Everly – “Let It Be Me”. The performance is available here. More pictures here and here.

Later on he was a guest on Gaby Roslin’s show on BBC Radio London, where he did two more songs together with Dan; “Do You Remember Me” and “Safe With Me”. He also talked openly about being bullied as a child. The show can be heard here (for 7 days). Pictures here and here.

He also met Maajid Nawaz today, whose book Radical was a source of inspiration for the lyrics in “Brother”. “Just met A-Ha lead singer @mortenharket to thank him for writing new album-track “Brother” based on my memoir Radical”, Nawaz said in a message on Twitter.

The UK promo continues tomorrow with more radio interviews, plus a TV-appearance on ITV’s Lorraine. Check out mortenharket.com for the details.

Before going to London, Morten and Dan did another acoustic session for Radio Norge in Oslo on Friday. But I don’t know if it was broadcast live or recorded for later. Pat Sharp, who was also a guest, posted a selfie with Morten on Twitter. Additional pictures here and here.

‘SWR3 Latenight’ TV-performance

SWR3 Latenight, March 28th

SWR3 Latenight, March 28th

Morten and Dan Sunhordvik’s acoustic performance of “Brother” on the talkshow SWR3 Latenight aired in Germany last night. The performance, which was taped in Baden-Baden on Wednesday, can be seen here (starts at 24:30 minutes).

Apparently Morten’s in-ear monitor couldn’t be used, so the odd-looking thing on his cheek was an improvised solution.

FFN and HR1 radio interviews

Contest winner Bettina gets vocal coaching from Morten

Contest winner Bettina gets vocal coaching from Morten
(Picture from ffn.de)

Morten was in Hannover today, on the fifth day of his German promo tour for the upcoming Brother album.

On the radio station FFN another contest winner, Bettina, had the chance to get vocal coaching from Morten as she sang a duet with him on “Brother”. Two different video reports from the visit have been posted on ffn.de and sat1regional.de. He was also interviewed for several FFN shows, and there are extensive photo galleries on haz.de and ffn.de. While at the radio studio he also met this fan.

Morten also visited the studio of HR1 for more interviews. The HR1 website has posted a video clip of Morten speaking in German, inviting people to come to his concert in Offenbach in May. There is also a photo gallery.

In addition, more interview clips and acoustic songs were broadcast on both SWR1 Baden-Württemberg and SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz tonight. Here is an acoustic version of “Safe With Me”, recorded in Stuttgart on Tuesday:

 
And here’s another Instagram photo from the visit to Baden-Baden on Wednesday.

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