Polar swing – Newspaper Kommersant No. 197 (7398) dated 10/22/2022

Norwegian band a-ha unexpectedly released their first studio album in seven years, True North. A mixture of surprise and delight – such is the reaction that, as I found Boris Barabanov, provokes a new drive.

Earlier this year, a-ha released A-ha: The Movie, a documentary about their 40-year career. It demonstratively emphasized that the trio’s career was formed not due to the interaction of its members, not as a sum of talents, but in spite of irreconcilable contradictions within the team. “It’s hard to work with people who don’t want to be in the frame together,” the photographer, who has been working with the group since 1985, admitted in the film. Accordingly, the release of new material under the a-ha brand is the last thing that could be expected after “A-ha: The Movie”, despite the fact that the group had already signed a new contract with Sony Music by that time.

Now, however, it turned out that by the time A-ha: The Movie was released, the group’s new, eleventh album had already been recorded. The circumstances of the recording formed the basis of another film, which, like the disc itself, is called “True North” (“True North”). The album was created in the mode of live studio sessions, that is, by all the musicians at the same time, in the city of Bodø, located 90 km north of the Arctic Circle. Together with a-ha, the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, a full-fledged symphony group based in this city, participated in the recording. In the same place, in Bodø, the premiere of the film was held, which is a combination of footage from the recording studio and game episodes.

If in most a-ha albums the main songwriter was Paul Wauctor-Savoy, then in “True North” he shared these duties equally with his colleague Magne Furuholmen – each wrote six songs. Furuholmen also presented the concept of the new disc to the public. It consists in the fact that “True North” should become the Norwegian analogue of Bruce Springsteen’s album “Western Stars” (2019). If Springsteen tried to convey the greatness of the vast expanses of America through musical and then cinematic means, then “True North” is a letter from the Far North of Norway, where the mountains meet the sea. This letter has a place for both personal stories and global themes of interaction with nature. “Northern Norwegian landscape has become part of the album’s DNA, color and texture,” says Magne Furuholmen.

The role of the orchestra in this concept is difficult to overestimate. It not only adds a cinematic feel to the musical palette, but also replaces the leading synthesizers. For a band that made a name for themselves during the heyday of synth-pop, this is a significant metamorphosis.

The biggest surprise is the episodes when a-ha start swinging. Already in the introduction to the second track of the album, “Hunter In The Hills”, one hundred percent jazz rhythm section sounds, and orchestral strings flow into the song in an absolutely Hollywood way. A sense of scale and air has always been characteristic of a-ha music, and as it turns out, there are means that the band has not yet used to achieve this goal. Jazz rhythm is also the basis of the song “Bumblebee”, written for the 60th birthday of Paul Vaktor’s sister.

It’s impossible to talk about “True North” without emphasizing the age of the characters in this story – these passport figures contrast too much with the clear voice of Morten Harket, flowing like spring water. He is 63, his vocal range is five octaves, and we remember that in the song “Summer Moved On” from the album “Minor Earth Major Sky” (2000) he held one note for a record 20 seconds. At the same time, “True North” is not the case when you should think about the height of the notes that it takes.

Popular music in its classic form, which a-ha professes on the new album, is still not a sport, and there is something else besides seconds, decibels, sales figures and chart positions. Whether embracing cinematic American pop like on “Oh My Word”, tapping into their own ballad past on “True North” or saddling their favorite synth-pop skate on “Make Me Understand”, Paul Wauctor-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen remain phenomenally gifted melodists. . And, perhaps, this is the first a-ha album in general, during which the listener may not know that the greatest pop vocalist is at the microphone, not expect records from him, but simply enjoy the songs themselves.