According to a press release posted at music-news.com, Morten’s touring band this time will be the a-ha musicians Karl Oluf Wennerberg on drums and Erik Ljunggren on keyboards/bass, plus Dan Sunhordvik from Magne’s solo band on guitar.
In addition to solo material, he will also perform “some selections from the a-ha catalogue”.
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Tags: dan sunhordvik, erik ljunggren, karl oluf wennerberg, morten harket 
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(Picture by Just Loomis)
Manager Harald Wiik is interviewed in today’s VG, and reveals that members of Pet Shop Boys and Swedish band Kent have written songs for Morten’s new album.
Here are some quotes:
“This has been an open process where Morten obviously has written a number of songs himself, but we have also been in contact with various other songwriters.
When there’s an opportunity to work with Pet Shop Boys and Kent, of course we’ll say yes. Both bands have extremely good songwriters and have been at the top of Morten’s wish list.
We are well underway with the new album. Our goal is to be finished by Christmas, which would mean that the album is released in March next year.
There will also be a solo tour that starts in April. But this all depends on whether we get finished in time or not.”
Pet Shop Boys vocalist Neil Tennant has in previous interviews talked about a-ha being one of his favorite bands and about Morten having a fantastic voice.
Kent vocalist Joakim Berg has also praised a-ha and their songwriting skills, most recently in an interview with ABC Nyheter last year. You may also remember that his brother Adam Berg directed the music video for “Summer Moved On” in 2000.
Update: Wiik provides some further comments to Dagbladet about the album and tour.
Regarding the songwriting collaborations, Pet Shop Boys have written one song for the album, while Joakim Berg and Martin Sköld from Kent have written two songs together with Morten.
Work on the new album started in April this year. It’s being produced by Steve Osborne, and will be released by Starwatch/Universal.
Wiik also shares some more details about the tour:
“Morten will be touring all over Europe, starting in mid-April, and there’s likely to be a tour in South America in February/March. Plans for the fall of 2012 aren’t ready yet, but we assume the tour will include Japan and Oceania in that period.”
Posted in Morten Tags: harald wiik, joakim berg, kent, martin sköld, morten harket, neil tennant, pet shop boys Comments Off on Morten collaborates with Pet Shop Boys and KentThree Morten Harket concerts in the UK have been announced by a-ha.com today:
11 May: Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, UK
13 May: indigO2, London, UK
14 May: Symphony Hall, Birmingham, UK
a-ha.com says there will be a pre-sale for all three shows on the a-ha Facebook page starting on Wednesday, October 26th, while the public sale starts on Friday, October 28th via Gigs and Tours.
To keep track of all the dates on the 2012 tour, visit the Morten Harket tour page.
Posted in Morten Tags: birmingham, london, manchester, morten harket Comments Off on UK dates announcedFrench promoter Gérard Drouot Productions has announced a Morten Harket concert at La Cigale in Paris on May 9th.
There will be a pre-sale 10am on Monday at gdp.fr, while the public sale starts on Thursday, October 27th.
Meanwhile, tickets for the Zurich concert on May 2nd are now available at ticketcorner.ch.
Update: Zurich and Paris have also been confirmed by a-ha.com now. Album release in March, according to the official site.
Info about four Morten Harket solo concerts in Germany and Switzerland in April/May 2012 were revealed (prematurely) by a German ticket agency today.
Following the info leak, Morten’s management decided to officially confirm the dates, Andrea at a-ha-net.de says.
These are the dates (so far):
30 April 2012: Munich, Germany
2 May 2012: Volkshaus Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
4 May 2012: Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Düsseldorf, Germany
6 May 2012: Berlin, Germany
More venue and ticket info to follow…
Update: The Swiss promo agency Good News have posted some info about the Zurich concert and a new promo picture on their website.
According to the website, which cites Universal, the album is now slated for a February 2012 release.
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(Picture: Universal)
Following the recent confusion about whether or not Morten had started work on a new solo album (see August 31st news update), a-ha manager Harald Wiik can now confirm that Morten is indeed working on his fifth solo album, to be released sometime next year.
The info appears in an interview with Swedish singer Anna Järvinen in Bergensavisen today, where she mentions that she’s always wanted to work with Morten:
“I have always wanted to do a duet with Morten Harket. Let’s hope he reads this. I guess he’s got more time now?”, Järvinen says.
The journalist then contacts a-ha manager Harald Wiik, who says the following:
“That’s nice to hear. Morten is working on a solo album to be released next year, but I can’t give much more details at this point.”
Morten’s previous solo album Letter From Egypt, which was released in 2008, sold around 30.000 copies in Norway.
Update: In an additional comment to VG Nett, Wiik says they’re aiming for a March/April release next year.
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From “Humorkveld” on TV Norge, September 25th.
Click on the “CC” button for English subtitles.
To learn more about how you can support UNICEF, visit www.supportunicef.org.
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Morten on "God Kveld Norge"
Morten appeared on TV2’s gossip programme “God Kveld Norge” last night, to promote the UNICEF show.
“When UNICEF asked me, my first thought was that I really wanted to participate. Jamaica was one of the countries UNICEF had in mind, and that’s where we ended up going.
The humanitarian aspect is a natural reason to support the work UNICEF is doing, but there’s also a political aspect; what kind of world do you believe in?”, Morten told host Dorthe Skappel.
He also mentioned that he’s working on some new music:
“I am currently working on some exciting stuff, within music. It’s stimulating and fun.”
Update: The interview is now up on YouTube
Morten performing in Guatemala, 1997
There is also an extra clip from the interview on the “God Kveld Norge” website, where Morten talks about the peace concert he did with Oslo Gospel Choir in San Martin, Guatemala in December 1997.
Attended by both Guatemalan and Norwegian officials, including the Norwegian foreign minister, the outdoor concert was supposed to be a celebration of the peace agreement signed in Oslo a year earlier, to end the country’s long-running civil war.
But things took a dramatic turn when three men, heavily armed with machine guns and hand grenades were captured by security personell during the concert. They had been paid a few thousand dollars to kill both local leaders and the Norwegian guests. Luckily, their plan failed.
In the interview, Morten says that he had brought his two sons Jakob and Jonathan with him to Guatemala and that he also remembers a bomb exploding in the area when the terrorists were captured.
“It was very unexpected. I’m used to consider all eventualities, not least because of my children, but those things took me by surprise”, Morten says.
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Morten's sunglasses were popular among the girls in Kingston, Jamaica (Picture by Just Loomis)
Morten is interviewed in today’s VG, in connection with tomorrow’s comedy show on TV Norge to benefit UNICEF. The show will feature a report from Morten’s visit to Kingston, Jamaica this summer.
“We visited a community with much violence and difficult social conditions, quite a common type of area in Jamaica. Some of those we met, around 20 years old, were clearly on drugs and already heavily involved in crime. That’s how they’ve chosen to take control of their own life”, Morten tells the newspaper.
Among those he met was a 14 year old girl who was eager to get married.
“It’s normal for all girls that age to be thinking about boyfriends, but when they get pregnant at such a young age, it really puts them back in relation to their own future.”
– Do you feel privileged to have your children grow up in Norway?, VG asks.
“Yes, of course we’re privileged – we have such a high level of safety and security here that it’s almost incomprehensible for other people.”
– In that respect, the Utøya attack this summer was a big exception?
“It definitely was.”
In Jamaica, Morten apparently received a lot of attention. Not because he’s famous, but because he’s white and had expensive sunglasses.
“The children we met had no idea who I was. Jamaica is very isolated in that regard, as they only listen to local music. They don’t know who U2 are, or Coldplay, REM and Madonna. And certainly not a-ha! But that’s also what makes it an interesting place to visit”, Morten says.
“Humorkveld” to benefit UNICEF airs live on TV Norge tomorrow night. Part 1 between 19:00 and 20:00, and part 2 between 21:30 and 23:00.
Posted in Morten Tags: humorkveld, jamaica, morten harket, tv norge, unicef Comments Off on Morten talks about Jamaica visit
Morten in Jamaica (Picture from UNICEF)
Morten has recently visited Jamaica, to learn more about a project run by UNICEF.
A report from his visit to the country will be shown during TV Norge’s third annual comedy show to support UNICEF.
The comedy show is held at Oslo Konserthus and airs live on TV Norge next Sunday, September 25th, at 19:00.
Whether Morten will also be performing during the show is not known.
In April 2005, Morten performed the official UNICEF song “Children First” together with Hayley Westenra at an event in Copenhagen.
Posted in Morten Tags: humorkveld, jamaica, morten harket, tv norge, unicef Comments Off on Morten visits Jamaica for UNICEF
