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"It was about time that we reached out a little more,” says a-ha singer Morten Harket of the group’s new album Foot Of The Mountain. Released on 27 July on Universal Music Record Label (URML), the album marks a return to the classic pop sound that made a-ha one of the biggest acts in the world, selling 36 million albums in the process. As keyboard player Magne Furuholmen explains, "It's an album that incorporates the key elements that first defined the band: soaring vocals, synth hooks, yearning lyrics and melodic melancholia." Or as guitarist and principal songwriter Paul Waaktaar-Savoy puts it more simply: "I think we got a great collection of songs this time around."

Written and recorded in various major cities – from Oslo, where the band formed in 1982, to New York, where Paul now lives – Foot Of The Mountain is, in Morten’s words, "predominantly a synth-based album". The ten new songs carry echoes of the band’s early signature hits: 'Take On Me', 'The Sun Always Shines On TV' and 'I’ve Been Losing You'. As Magne explains, "This is a potent and vibrant album - it has a vitality. Morten has an incredible voice – one of the very few instantly recognizable voices in pop music. And that voice is most effective in a synth-based musical landscape. For me, this album was about helping Morten come into his own."

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