Magne Furuholmen (a-ha) interview: ‘Even imperfect rituals can have value during difficult times’
Magne Furuholmen (Photo by Nina Djaerff)
(Interview by Janos Janurik for Side-Line) Magne Furuholmen, the keyboardist, songwriter and former fun-maker of a-ha, has released his new solo album quietly and without much fanfare. On November 1, his birthday, the first song “Living With Ourselves” was released, which also serves as the title track for the new album. The album’s premiere took place at the end of August when Magne presented several new songs at the renowned art festival Fjord Cadenza. At that time, the album still lacked a title.
After the final a-ha tour in 2022, Magne – a true renaissance man and a phenomenon in the art world, known not only for his compositions but also for his active work as a painter – began working on new songs. He also revisited tracks that had not been included on the “True North” album. These songs were untitled and had no specific purpose. Even Magne wasn’t sure whether they would become material for a-ha, an Apparatjik project, or possibly a film soundtrack. (Apparatjik is a multinational band formed in 2008 by members of Coldplay, a-ha, Mew, and Martin Terefe.)
Ultimately, the songs felt more like a solo endeavor. During the winter of 2022 and the spring of 2023, Magne produced 10 deeply personal tracks. I had the opportunity to ask him about these songs and other aspects of his creative journey.
JJ: Hello Magne, I hope you are well! Thanks for taking the time to talk to me and our readers. It’s true that on your last solo album “White Xmas Lies” you sang about Christmas—or what became of it—in a somewhat disappointing way. However, your current work reminds me of a kind of Advent calendar, where you make a song available on online music platforms every week from the beginning of November. Was that the original idea, to give away a musical experience for Christmas, or is there something else behind it?
Magne Furuholmen: The ‘White Xmas Lies’ album was an ironic take on Xmas as having gone super-commercial, whereas this one was not intended to be a Xmas record. It was just a collection of songs that in the end made up a solo-record. For different reasons the material laid in waiting for almost a year before release, which is very unusual for me. I just wanted to release these songs with low shoulders to those who might be interested and not push for attention from those who are not, and I felt it might be interesting to just drop one song at a time to get away from the usual way of a heavily promoted release date for a new album.
JJ: The title of the first song you have released from your new album is “Living With Ourselves”. I think in today’s world that’s probably one of the hardest things to do—to be in harmony with yourself. How well have you done that? How well have you found your place in the world?
Magne Furuholmen: Well, judging by escalating conflicts and tension in the world it seems even harder to live with/get along with each other actually! But still, harmony and peace – and also celebrating differences among us as making the tapestry of the world richer instead of as a threat to our own worldview must start with honest and critical self-examination. Personally, I am much more at peace with my own shortcomings and strengths today than i was as a young man. I feel like I have been super fortunate in life, even with some bad/wrong choices made, and reconciled with things done to me that have seemed unjust or unfair along the way. Most things that happen in a life – good and bad – can be a source for learning and ultimately acceptance.
JJ: “Look How Far We Haven’t Come” and “World So Strange” are two of the tracks on your new LP. When I read those titles, I couldn’t help but think about the current situation in the world. On the last Magne F album, there was a protest song called “This Is Now America”, which has lost none of its topicality. It’s as if the world around us has turned even more upside down. Are you still protesting in your own way, or are you tired of falling on deaf ears?
Magne Furuholmen: Everything I write is a reflection of my experiences – of people and situations that touch me, irks me, gives me hope or takes it away…etc. I am hardly a protest singer, but with so many people having given me the opportunity to make music I do feel an obligation to raise my voice about these things and write as honest and unfiltered as I can – perhaps now more than ever before.
JJ: “Giving In To Christmas” is a song where the listeners have to pay attention to the message of the song. I think we both agree that this festival is becoming more and more empty, that it has lost its original message. And yet we try to hold on to old Christmas memories. Is this song something like a direct continuation of the idea of the album “White Xmas Lies”?
Magne Furuholmen: I happened to have written a new xmas song ‘Giving In To Christmas’ during, which was a kind of an apology for being such a grinch back with the WXL album… Haha. As well as a recognition that even imperfect rituals can have value during difficult times.
JJ: One of my favorite songs on the album is “God Is In The Details”. It’s melancholic and sobering, but uplifting and hopeful at the same time—like the clouds in the sky that are sung about. I think it could be a big a-ha hit. I know you have “White Horses” planned for the “True North” album, but this song also has the quintessence of the a-ha hits that are so dear to the fans. Can you imagine this song with Morten’s voice as an a-ha song?
Magne Furuholmen: Yes, I also thought it might be a song for a-ha to be honest. The lyrics were even kind of inspired by Morten – things Morten had said in conversations over the years, so I imagined it would be be perfect for him. We did actually record Mortens vocals on the demo, but as it turned out, he wanted some of the key things in the lyrics changed in order to perform it, and I really did not want to change them.
JJ: There’s also a beautiful duet in the set – next to ‘Look How Far We Haven’t Come’ – which could have been on the last a-ha album. How long have you known the guest vocalist Tini Flaat? Can you tell us something about the making of ‘Time Is On Your Side’?
Magne Furuholmen: I have known Tini since i made my (one-time appearance as a mentor on the 1st season of the tv show ‘The Voice’, and I then co produced her really beautiful debut album titled ‘Undo My Heart’ with my mate Martin Terefe 10 years ago. For ‘Time Is On Your Side’ I first recorded all the vocals myself, then Morten also recorded a version (which, as mentioned, I did not include in my allotted songs for the ‘True North’ album – even though according to Morten, this was one of his favourite of mine at the time. Revisiting it during this project, Tini was in my studio doing some background vocals and I just wanted to try our two contrasting two voices for the song and felt it worked.
JJ: You released a stirring instrumental on 20 December (‘Teo’s Theme’). Perhaps with the intention of bringing the important Christmas message to our souls? To focus not on the lyrics, which are so important, but on the inner voice?
Magne Furuholmen: This piece was written after the birth of my first grandchild. I imagined it to become film-music for something at some point later, but when I was putting the album together I felt it belonged on there – if for nothing else, for the fact it was written during this period.
JJ: It’s impossible to talk about your new album without mentioning the beautifully crafted vinyl release that accompanies it. Once again, you’ve made sure that fans get a record that’s not only pleasing to the ear, but also to the eye. The 200 fans who have this limited edition are really lucky. Which art form inspires the other? When your soul craves self-expression, is it the musician or the painter who bursts out first?
Magne Furuholmen: Thanks. I have done – and enjoyed doing – this crossover-thing with music and art on all my solo albums. Glad to see there are still people out there who appreciate it! Regarding inspiration, it is always a balancing act, and I never quite know which medium is in the driver’s seat. In the end though, all my creative output seems to bleed over into each other – words, music, visuals. For me there are no boundaries between them any more.
JJ: We already know that ‘Living With Ourselves’ will be released on CD in Japan on the 22nd of January, with a bonus track, a demo of ‘I’m In’ (‘True North’), sung by you. Will there be more physical releases of your new material?
Magne Furuholmen: There was originally no plan for any other physical release than the ltd edition vinyl. The CD release in Japan was an in-call from Sony Japan which came totally unexpected, but there are no plans for any further physical releases, no.
JJ: You mentioned earlier that you’re looking forward to important anniversaries. It’s been 40 years since ‘Take On Me’ was released, and your first solo album (‘Past Perfect Future Tense’) turned 20 this year. In the year 2025 year a book about you will be published in Norwegian, based on interviews with you. Written by journalist Ørjan Nilsson, who has already published biographies of Paul (2017) and Morten (2019). This will complete his trilogy. When can fans celebrate with you and your bandmates next? Are you planning live performances, either solo or as part of a-ha?
Magne Furuholmen: In general I seem to have gotten more appreciative of anniversaries with age (I used to sneer at them), and I would personally have loved to celebrate the passing of all this incredible time with a-ha together with our long-standing fans around the world, but this is of course not only up to me. As a solo artist, making the records is by far the most important thing to me, but I have toyed with doing some solo performances. We’ll see. And hey – there is a tiny little live -recording I did for TV just now before Xmas which comes out now in January at some point I think, but I am not sure if it is available outside Norway…
Tracklist:
- Look how far we haven’t come
- One 4 all and all 4 none
- Living with ourselves
- God is in the details
- Teo’s theme [instrumental]
- Time is on your side
- White horses
- World so strange
- You won (and then some)
- Giving in to christmas
- Hold the line [TOTO cover]
Thanks to Magne Furuholmen for the interview, Harald Wiik for his help and Nina Djareff for the photos!
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