On 20–22 May 2008, Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy performed concerts in Oslo, Norway, to promote their respective solo material before coming together as a-ha to play "Train of Thought", "Take on Me", and two new songs, "Riding the Crest" and "Shadowside", which previewed the new a-ha album, Foot of the Mountain. These events led up to their performance at London's Royal Albert Hall on 24 May.
On April 24, 2009, a-ha surprised their fan base by releasing their new single, "Foot of the Mountain", premiering that day on Norwegian radio. The single had been completed only the night before. The song is based upon the track "The Longest Night" by Magne Furuholmen, which was released on his album A Dot of Black In The Blue Of Your Bliss. The single was released on May 22 in Germany. The band promoted the song by playing it during the Final of Germany's Next Topmodel on May 21 in the Lanxess Arena, Cologne.
Foot of the Mountain, a-ha's ninth studio album, was released in Europe on June 19, 2009. The album's material marked a return to synth pop, similar to the band's earliest work, although the first single (and title track) was not wholly indicative of this[25]. The band collaborated with successful producer Steve Osborne, who has produced albums for such artists as New Order, Starsailor, Doves, Elbow, and U2. "What There Is", an earlier solo track by Magne Furuholmen, aka "Mags (2)", was re-recorded for the album. Foot of the Mountain entered the German album chart at #1, the UK album chart at #5 and debuted on the Billboard European Album Sales Chart at #8.
"I feel more connected to Depeche Mode (compared with other acts of the 80s)," claimed Magne Furuholmen. a-ha performed a cover of "A Question of Lust" during a live performance for BBC Radio 2 - The Dermot O'Leary Show on 25 July 2009.
a-ha headlined the iTunes Live festival on 24 July 2009. The lineup for the festival also includes Simple Minds, Oasis, Snow Patrol, Franz Ferdinand, Kasabian and The Saturdays. All the performances were recorded and made available for download on the iTunes site as with the previous festivals. In the Norwegian iTunes store a-ha's release has yet to see the light of day.
On 15 October 2009, the band announced they are to split after a worldwide concert tour in 2010. The same day, their final concert was announced to take place in Oslo, Norway, at the Oslo Spektrum arena 4 December 2010, with ticket sales starting the next day. The concert sold out the first day on sale. On 19 October 2009, a second farewell show was announced to be given on 3 December 2010, and on 4 November a third show was announced for 2 December 2010. In January 2010, a-ha's album Foot of the Mountain was certified platinum in Germany.
Get A Ha Tickets from Sold Out Ticket Market at nominal prices.
0 comments:
Post a Comment