Cast in Steel

Cast in Steel is the tenth studio album by Norwegian band A-ha. The album was released on 4 September 2015 by We Love Music and Polydor. It is their first studio album since Foot of the Mountain (2009), following their second reunion in early 2015.[1]

Cast in Steel
Studio album by
a-ha
Released4 September 2015
Recorded2014–2015
GenreSynth-pop, alternative rock, pop rock
Length47:01 (CD), 38:44 (vinyl)
LabelWe Love Music, Polydor, Universal
ProducerMagne Furuholmen, Morten Harket, Peter Kvint, Erik Ljunggren, Jon O'Mahony, Steve Osborne, Alan Tarney, Pål Waaktaar-Savoy
A-ha chronology
Ending on a High Note: The Final Concert
(2011)		 Cast in Steel
(2015)		 Time and Again: The Ultimate a-ha
(2016)
Singles from Cast in Steel
  1. "Under the Makeup"
    Released: 3 July 2015
  2. "The Wake"
    Released: 28 August 2015
  3. "Forest Fire"
    Released: 15 September 2015
  4. "Cast in Steel (Steve Osborne Version)"
    Released: 12 February 2016
  5. "Objects in the Mirror (Steve Osborne Version)"
    Released: 12 February 2016

Cast in Steel is the first a-ha album to use the original band logo since Memorial Beach from 1993, and the first album to be produced by Alan Tarney since Stay on These Roads (1988).[2]

Background and recording

Following the release of their ninth studio album, Foot of the Mountain, a-ha announced that they would retire as a band. In 2015, however, the band announced that they would re-unite for a two-year period and release Cast in Steel, followed by a world tour to promote the album. Cast in Steel was released on 4 September 2015, shortly before a-ha performed in Brazil at Rock in Rio on 27 September for the festival's 30th anniversary.

Initially Pål Waaktaar-Savoy and Morten Harket began recording the album in New York without Magne Furuholmen. Waaktaar-Savoy said of the process: "It began quite small with Morten dropping by my studio now and then, and I played some of my new songs for him. Then he recorded his vocals on the songs he liked and the rest we didn't use. That continued until we had ten to twelve songs."[3] He also revealed that the three members of a-ha were never present in the same studio during the recording of the album, and said: "It often ends up like this, and many bands do it this way. But I do miss the feeling of us being in the same studio, working on the same song in real time."[4]

Furuholmen has said the reunion wasn't his decision: "The other two wanted to do it, and I had to decide: do I block it, let them do it without me, or make a fool of myself, with my statements about this being the end."[5]

Singles

"Under the Makeup" was released as the album's first single internationally on 3 July 2015. The music video was shot in Telemark in Norway and stars Danish actress Sofie Gråbøl and Swedish actress Frida Farrell.[6]

On 19 August 2015, "The Wake" was premiered on BBC Radio 2.[7] The song was released as the album's second single in the United Kingdom on 28 August 2015.[8][9]

A-ha performed the album's third single "Forest Fire" on 3 September 2015 at the 2015 Radiopreis-Gala in Germany.[10] On 15 September 2015 a lyric video was released on YouTube.[11] "Forest Fire" was added to the BBC Radio 2 playlist on 28 October 2015 as the third single from the album in the UK.[12]

The Steve Osborne remix of "Cast in Steel" was released as an international single on 12 February 2016.[13] On the same date, the Osborne remix of "Objects In The Mirror" was released as the fourth single in the UK.[14][15]

Commercial performance

Cast in Steel debuted at number eight on the UK Albums Chart, selling 7,828 copies in its first week. It is a-ha's sixth Top 10 album in the United Kingdom.[16] The album debuted at number four on the German Albums Chart, and became the 99th best-selling album of 2015.

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicProducer(s)Length
1."Cast in Steel"Pål Waaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-SavoySavoy, Erik Ljunggren, Peter Kvint[a], Morten Harket[a]3:50
2."Under the Makeup"Waaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-Savoy, Ljunggren, Kvint[a], Harket[a]3:25
3."The Wake"Harket, Ole Sverre OlsenHarket, KvintHarket, Kvint3:45
4."Forest Fire"Magne FuruholmenFuruholmen, Harket, Martin Terefe, KvintSteve Osborne, Furuholmen, Ljunggren, Kvint[a], Harket[a]3:54
5."Objects in the Mirror"FuruholmenFuruholmenOsborne, Furuholmen, Ljunggren, Kvint[a], Harket[a]4:14
6."Door Ajar"Waaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-Savoy, Alan Tarney, John O'Mahony[b]3:46
7."Living at the End of the World"Harket, OlsenHarket, KvintHarket, Kvint4:06
8."Mythomania"FuruholmenFuruholmenFuruholmen, Ljunggren, Kvint[a], Harket[a]3:49
9."She's Humming a Tune"Waaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-Savoy, Ljunggren, O'Mahony[b]4:02
10."Shadow Endeavors"Waaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-Savoy, Tarney, O'Mahony[b]4:21
11."Giving Up the Ghost"FuruholmenFuruholmenFuruholmen, Ljunggren, Kvint[a], Harket[a]4:15
12."Goodbye Thompson"Waaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-Savoy, Tarney, O'Mahony[b]3:34
Deluxe edition (bonus tracks)
No.TitleLyricsMusicProducer(s)Length
1."The End of the Affair"FuruholmenFuruholmenFuruholmen, Ljunggren3:31
2."Mother Nature Goes to Heaven" (original version)Waaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-Savoya-ha4:33
3."Nothing Is Keeping You Here" (original version)Waaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-Savoya-ha4:41
4."Shadowside" (demo version)Waaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-Savoya-ha, Ljunggren4:16
5."Start the Simulator" (stereophonic mix)Waaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-SavoyMark Saunders, Roland Spremberg5:19
6."Foot of the Mountain" (Mark Saunders remix)Waaktaar-SavoyWaaktaar-Savoy, FuruholmenSaunders4:18

Vinyl edition

Side A

  1. Cast in Steel - 3:50
  2. Under the Makeup - 3:25
  3. The Wake - 3:45
  4. Forest Fire - 3:54
  5. Objects in the Mirror - 4:14

Side B

  1. Door Ajar - 3:46
  2. Living at the End of the World - 4:06
  3. Mythomania - 3:49
  4. Shadow Endeavors - 4:21
  5. Goodbye Thompson - 3:34
Notes
  • ^[a] signifies a vocal producer
  • ^[b] signifies pre-production

Personnel

a-ha

Additional credits/musicians:

  • Drums: Karl Oluf Wennerberg (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13), Per Lindvall (7), Joe Mardin (12)
  • Bass: Even Ormestad (1, 2, 9), Steve Osborne (4), Peter Kvint (3, 7)
  • Guitar: Peter Kvint (3, 7), Steve Osborne (4), Alan Tarney (6, 10, 12)
  • Keyboards: Steve Osborne (4), Peter Kvint (3, 7), Alan Tarney (6, 10, 12)
  • Theremin: Rob Schwimmer (2)
  • Orchestra performance by: Macedonian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1, 2)
  • Orchestra arrangement by: Lars Horntveth(1, 2)
  • String performance by: Bylund Strings (7)
  • Violins: David Davidson, David Angell, Connie Ellisor and Mary Kathryn Vanosdale (5, 11)
  • Violas: Kris Wilkinson, Monisa Angell (5, 11)
  • Cellos: Sari Reist, Julie Tanner (5, 11)
  • Additional backing vocals: Alan Tarney (6, 10, 12)
  • Programming: Erik Ljunggren (1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13), Eliot Leigh (6, 10, 12), Kurt Uenala (6, 10, 12), Chuck Zwicky (1, 6, 10, 12), Steve Osborne (4), Peter Kvint (3, 7)
  • Mastered by John Davis at Metropolis Group, London
  • Recorded by: Peter Kvint, Janne Hansson, Erik Ljunggren, Steve Osborne, Eliot Leigh, Chuck Zwicky, Kai Andersen, Dag Erik Johansen, George Tanderø, Max Ross, Even Enersen Omnestad, John Brant and Bobby Shin.
  • Recorded at: Studio Brun, Atlantis Studios, Buret, Alabaster Room, Real World Studios, Electric Lady Studios, Athletic Sound, Albatross Recorders, Systems Two Recording Studios and Little Big Sound.
  • Photography: Just Loomis

Charts

References
  1. Veka, Camilla (21 March 2015). "A-ha gjenforenes og lager nye låter". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  2. "a-ha / Cast in Steel: Track by track | superdeluxeedition". www.superdeluxeedition.com. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  3. "a-ha med nytt album og stor turné til høsten". Dagbladet.no.
  4. Veiåker Johansen, Robert (9 September 2015). "a-ha: The rescue operation". Aftenposten. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  5. Valentish, Jenny (18 March 2016). "The highs and lows of being a-ha". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  6. https://itunes.apple.com/no/album/under-the-makeup-single/id1012953126
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-12. Retrieved 2016-03-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. http://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/the-wake-a-ha/0060254757270
  9. http://hessomedia.com/bbc-radio-2-playlist-news-a-a-b-c/
  10. http://www.deutscher-radiopreis.de/radiopreis/gala_2015/kuenstler/a-ha-feiern-Comeback-bei-Radiopreis-Gala,aha268.html
  11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ-OOSsH-e0
  12. http://hessomedia.com/a-ha-goes-straight-on-to-the-bbc-radio-2-b-list/
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-03-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-03-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. http://hessomedia.com/a-ha-goes-straight-onto-the-bbc-radio-2-and-bbc-london-playlists/
  16. http://www.musicweek.com/businessanalysis/read/official-charts-analysis-sigala-s-easy-love-catapults-to-from-71-1/062855
  17. "Austriancharts.at – a-ha – Cast in Steel" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  18. "Ultratop.be – a-ha – Cast in Steel" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  19. "Ultratop.be – a-ha – Cast in Steel" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  20. "Top Stranih" [Top Foreign]. Top of the Shops. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  21. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201537 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  22. "Danishcharts.dk – a-ha – Cast in Steel". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  23. "Dutchcharts.nl – a-ha – Cast in Steel" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  24. "Lescharts.com – a-ha – Cast in Steel". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  25. "Offiziellecharts.de – a-ha – Cast in Steel" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  26. "Official IFPI Charts – Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Week: 24/2015)". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  27. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2015. 37. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  28. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 37, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  29. "Norwegiancharts.com – a-ha – Cast in Steel". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  30. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  31. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  32. "Spanishcharts.com – a-ha – Cast in Steel". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  33. "Swisscharts.com – a-ha – Cast in Steel". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  34. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  35. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 2015" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
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