On the 30th anniversary of the release of their first album, Norwegian band a-ha is back together after a 6 year hiatus to release new music.
Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy fondly remember their performance at the Rock in Rio festival in 1991 and playing in front of a world record paying attendance crowd of 198,000 fans. No surprise then that the band is currently scheduling a two year tour that begins in Europe after returning to the familiar stomping grounds of this year’s Rock in Rio fest.
On the band’s hiatus, Morten told Reuters: “One of the good things about being away is to digest things and maybe learn from things and see if there are better ways to get to where you want to be.”
When asked about the popularity of their seminal hit, “Take On Me,” he said: “For us you have to make peace with that song because it’s stronger than you in a way. It’s not going away.
“We played it to death … but the public don’t get sick of it somehow.”
a-ha’s debut album, “Hunting High and Low,” sold more than 10 million copies and over the span of their original team-up, the band sold over 80 million albums, released 41 singles and performed close to 600 concerts in 36 countries.
The band’s 10th studio album, Cast in Steel, is scheduled for release on September 4th. Here’s a sneak peek at the first video from the new album for the track titled “Under the Makeup.”
…and much to the good-natured chagrin of Morten Harket, here’s “Take On Me.”
