M.With a new album on the market and a film to accompany the cinema, A-ha have every reason to be happy. But before the release of “True North”, the atmosphere between the three Norwegians is slightly tense. The end of the band is once again threatening. “I already said A-ha is over,” admits keyboardist Magne Furuholmen. “I think I’ve said that several times and now I’m sitting here again. So I’m not going to say it’s the end.”
A-ha cannot be expected to tour with “True North” for the time being. “This was originally the plan, but I don’t know if it will come to that,” says Furuholmen (59) slightly resigned in a zoom conversation with the German news agency in London and refers to singer Morten Harket (63). “It depends on what Morten thinks if he rediscovers the joy of the tour. I don’t think we should go on tour if it’s just pressure for him and no joy. So I can’t promise anything. “
It’s a shame, because with “True North” A-ha present a wonderful new album that shows the new musical sides of Norwegians – and which deserves to be heard live. The new songs were recorded in the Norwegian coastal town of Bodø, 90 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. The band – Harket, Furuholmen and guitarist Paul (formerly Pål) Waaktaar-Savoy (61) – were accompanied by the orchestra of the Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic.
Not just physical distance
Furuholmen and Waaktaar-Savoy shared song writing but wrote separately, as the keyboardist points out. The three childhood friends have nothing in common in private. There is also the physical distance. Waaktar-Savoy lives in the United States, his bandmates in Norway. “But we live at a comfortable distance from each other,” says Furuholmen, who lives in Oslo, and laughs dryly.
Among other things, he wrote the epic title song, which is somewhat reminiscent of the band’s classic “Stay On These Roads”, the typical “Summer Rain” and the album’s biggest catchy melody, the outrageously catchy ” Bluest Of Blue “.
Waaktaar-Savoy, who lives in Los Angeles, gave “True North” a touch of American West Coast pop from the 60s and 70s. “I recognize that Pål is moving more in the direction of the American Songbook when he writes,” confirms his bandmate in the dpa interview. “Bumblebee”, “Oh My Word” and the beautiful “Hunter In The Hills” show influences from legendary songwriters such as Burt Bacharach or Glenn Campbell.
melancholy and desire
“True North”, which Furuholmen describes as “a poem from the far north of Norway”, is an overall melancholy album. “Norway’s nature, sea and dramatic landscapes are associated with a feeling of melancholy and longing that underlies everything we do,” explains the 59-year-old in the album film, which is basically just a very long music video with beautiful landscape shots and passages of speech between songs.
Thanks to the Arktisk Philharmonic Orchestra, the music has a cinematic touch even without the beautiful images. The fact that the band, once misunderstood as a boy band, can offer great cinema to the ears has been known since at least their brilliant James Bond title song “The Living Daylights” (1987). 35 years, numerous hits and two breakups later, there’s no sign that songwriters Furuholmen and Waaktaar-Savoy are running out of ideas for A-ha.
Perhaps there is still hope for a joint tour and more albums by the trio. A-ha should take as their motto the lyrics of “I’m In”, the opening song of “True North”. “Never give up, don’t stop,” sings Harket, “don’t let the forces that destroy us think they can win.” Privately, a-ha musicians may have distanced themselves from each other, but musically Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktar-Savoy are still great together.
