Review: A-ha Find Inspiration at Home with 'True North'
A-ha is the best-selling band ever to come out of Norway. Their studio albums have never gone below #2 in that country, nor outside the Top 20 in Germany. Yet as soon as you read that name, you likely thought of “Take on Me.” That's ok. Unlike many bands, A-ha has never run from their 1985 best-seller. But with their 11th studio album, True North, and the accompanying documentary film, A-ha makes its most compelling case to be taken seriously as a band.
Eschewing the normal careful production and studio magic you expect from a synthpop act, A-ha recorded True North live, bringing in Norway's Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra to provide an organically orchestrated sound that is bigger than anything they've done before and is sonically closer to their Summer Solstice MTV Unplugged concert album (also featuring a string section) than to Hunting High and Low. The orchestration, while adding a lot, never covers up that the trio that form the core of A-ha, vocalist Morten Harket, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen still sound great. Especially Harket. The 63 year old singer is one of the few whose voice has not changed since his younger days. While most of the songs on True North are more subdued than their older work, the “best falsetto in rock and roll” comes out in places and makes you wonder if Harket is some kind of vampire.
Lyrically, True North is spare, the vocals spaced far enough apart to let the music shine. Inspired by the beauty of their native country, the songs spread out like an unspoiled fjord. For example, the album's first single “I'm In” could have sounded simplistic in other hands. The earnestness of “whatever you want from me, whatever it takes to be free, whatever you have to believe, I'm in” aren't exactly subtle. But it's a conversation held by a lot of people during the past couple of years to friends and family whose mental health bottomed out. Simple is best when you're on the ledge and “I'm In” sounds not sophomoric but empathetic.
“Bumblebee” is an enthusiastic endorsement of that very simplicity. An unadorned love song with some of the strongest symphonic elements, it balances the big things (“she's my protector for as long as I remember”) to the little idiosyncrasies that make a friendship (“small bird befriender... bumblebee inspector.”)
“True North” is a nautical-themed tale of wanderlust and home that is Harket's strongest performance. It's the place where that trademark falsetto spends its most time, soaring until it becomes another instrument. “We'll sail to the end of the world. A good sailor always returns. So hold on to hope and always believe in fair winds and following seas.”
Will A-ha ever break into the American market in a big way? I don't know. Their songs are too cerebral for the current pop market, but I could see it making a dent on the album charts as the people who still buy full albums tend to want that kind of depth. Despite almost constantly being surrounded by music, I never got into the vinyl revolution and don't own a record player. True North is the first new release that has made me question that. True North is out Oct. 21 and you should absolutely run to your favorite indie record shop and get your own vinyl copy if you are into vinyl. This is an album made for that extra warmth and more organic sound.