''True North'' is the eleventh studio album by Norwegian band A-ha. It was released on 21 October 2022 by

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

and

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

. The album's opening track "I'm In" was released as the first single on 8 July 2022. ''True North'' is accompanied by a film with the same title featuring a-ha recording the album during November 2021 in Bodø, Norway.

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (born Pål Gamst, 6 September 1961) is a Norwegian musician and songwriter. Waaktaar-Savoy is best known for his work as the main songwriter and guitarist in the Norwegian pop band A-ha, which has sold more than 50 million al ...

has said of the project: "First, we had the idea to record a studio session live. Then, to film a studio session. That grew into more of a production with the Norwegian orchestra, the Arctic Philharmonic, who we have collaborated with."

Background and recording

A documentary titled ''a-ha: The Movie'' was released in 2021 and tells the story of the band and deals with both their success and the problems, such as personal rifts between members. In January 2022, it was announced that a-ha had signed a recording contract with

imprint

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to release the ''True North'' album. The concept of recording an album and an accompanying film was inspired by Bruce Springsteen's '' Western Stars'' (2019). Furuholmen wanted to create a Norwegian version of ''Western Stars'' and has called the project a "musical letter from our home country" and described the album's themes as "nature and the environment".

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 12 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, selling 5,109 copies in its first week. It is a-ha's 17th top 75 album on the chart.

Reception

The album has had a positive reception from numerous publications, including ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', '' musicOMH'', laut.de, ''Hymn'' and ''Retropop''.

Track listing

Personnel

a-ha

Morten Harket Morten Harket () (born September 14, 1959) is a Norwegian vocalist and songwriter, who is the lead singer of the synthpop/rock band A-ha. A-ha has released 10 studio albums to date, and topped the charts internationally after their breakthrough ...

– lead vocals (1–12) *

Magne Furuholmen Magne Furuholmen (born 1 November 1962) is a Norwegian musician and visual artist. He was named Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olav by King Harald for his services to Norwegian music and his international success. Furuholmen, better know ...

– keyboards (1, 4, 5, 8, 11), piano (1–6, 11), synth (9), acoustic guitar (1, 4, 7, 8, 10–12), backing vocals (1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11), programming (1, 4, 5, 8, 10–11) * Pål Waaktaar-Savoy – guitars (2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 12), backing vocals (2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 12), acoustic guitars (1, 4, 10, 11), electric guitar (5, 8), keyboards (2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 12)

Additional musicians

* Kjetil Bjerkestrand – keyboards (tracks 1–12) * Even Ormestad – bass (tracks 1–12) * Karl Oluf Wennerberg – drums (tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11), percussion (tracks 2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12) * Per Hillestad – drums (tracks 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 12), percussion (tracks 3, 4, 8) * Piero Perrelli – percussion (track 2) *

Thom Hell Thom Hell (born 19 March 1976) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. His birth name is Thomas Helland. He has released several EPs, albums, and singles. After using his backing band "The Love Connection" (Bjarte Jørgensen, Frank Hammersland, Marte ...

– backing vocals (tracks 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11) * Erik Ljunggren – programming (track 5) *

Morten Qvenild Morten Qvenild (born 31 August 1978) is a Norwegian jazz pianist, band leader, and producer. Career Qvenild started his jazz career in the big band Ung Musikk in 1995, followed by studies on the Jazz program at the Norges Musikkhøgskole. He u ...

– piano (tracks 6 and 12) * Madeleine Ossum – violin (track 8) * Kjetil Bjerkestrand – orchestral arrangements (tracks 1, 4, 5, 8, 10 and 11) *

Joe Mardin Joe Mardin (born Yusuf Mardin) is a Turkish-American music producer, arranger and engineer from New York City. He is a Berklee College of Music graduate and is the son of the Turkish American producer Arif Mardin. Joe Mardin is also a conductor, ...

– orchestral arrangements (tracks 2, 3, 6, 7, 9 and 12) * Brynjar Lien Schulerud – concertmaster:

Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra The Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic ( no, Arktisk Filharmoni, links=no) is an orchestral institution based in Tromsø and Bodø, Norway. Since its founding in 2009, as The Northern Norwegian Opera and Symphony Orchestra, it has become one of Norther ...

* Anders Eljas – conductor Svømmehallen * Lars Erik Gudim – conductor Store Studio

Background and recording

Commercial performance

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

a-ha

Additional musicians

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References