‘Take On Me’ singers reunite

Norwegian band A-ha temporarily joins hands to work on new album

LONDON: Norwegian band A-ha, whose Take On Me track continues to be one of the most popular songs of the 1980s, are reuniting temporarily, releasing their first new material in six years. The band split after a worldwide tour in 2010 with vocalist Morten Harket, keyboardist Magne Furuholmen and guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy moving on to pursue solo projects.

The trio are now back together for a two-year reunion to write new material. Their 10th studio album, Cast In Steel, is out September 4 and a European tour will follow next year. A-ha will first perform at the Rock in Rio music festival this month. “It’s incredible how quickly you fall back into where you left off,” said Harket. “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.”

A-ha formed in 1982 and this year marks 30 years since the release of their debut album Hunting High and Low, which has sold more than 10 million copies. “For us, you have to make peace with that song because it’s stronger than you in a way. It’s not going away,” Harket said when asked about the continued popularity of Take On Me. “We played it to death ... but the public don’t get sick of it somehow.”

Harket said the band are now getting to grips with the popularity of social media, especially within the music industry, which is a big change from when they started out. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2015.

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