Magne Furuholmen is one third of pop band A-Ha. He tells MATTHEW JENKIN why he still loves Take On Me and how their farewell tour is now hysteria free.

NEXT year marks the 25th anniversary of A-ha’s multi-platinum debut album Hunting High and Low and back in the 80s the Norwegian trio generated teenage hysteria and general pandemonium wherever they went.

Despite a seven year split in the 90s the band reformed in 1999 and have since gone on to win the Q Inspiration Award, in 2006, in honour of their lasting musical influence.

But depsite selling more than 35 million albums and having 15 top 10 singles in the UK alone, A-Ha’s Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy have decided to call it a day.

The Scandinavian heart-throbs say the split will give them a chance to pursue their own individual passions and they will perform one of their last concerts at The O2 arena next Wednesday.

The band’s current album Foot of the Mountain has received critical acclaim and marks a return to the classic pop sound that made A-ha one of the biggest acts in the world.

Keyboard player Magne said: “We have done quite a few different albums in our time and it has always been very song based.

“A few of the later records have had leanings towards epic rock sounding arrangements.

“But on this album there was a conscious effort to move towards the way we did things at the outset, which was basically just the three of us and a lot of synthetic sequences and drum machines.

“We were really going back to just having three men in a room with instruments and building it up from there.

“A lot of people have said this album relates back to the early records. I think this album is more energetic.

“There was a sort of self-disciplinary aspect of cutting things to the core on this record and going back to the soundscape that allows a voice like Morten’s to be heard.

“It is just a good match between a well crafted synthetic landscape and his powerful voice.”

A-ha’s debut single Take On Me reached number one in 27 countries and became a classic anthem of the 80s.

It has since been covered by everyone from boyband A1 to ska punk band Reel Big Fish, and the song’s familiar electro beats can still be heard tooting over the radio waves.

With a total of nine albums under their belts, do the boys ever tire of being reminded of their mega-hit?

Magne is adamant he has no problem with the song’s lasting appeal.

He said: “Take On Me is still out there working on our behalf and I feel ashamed to knock it. But we are always focussing on the new songs.

“When you have a new album out that is your focus and then when people remind you of songs that were 20 years in the past then you have to come to terms with that.

“As I said, Take On Me has been a huge part of our lives and to negate that would be stupidity. It still sounds good on radio and I still hear it with fondness and I’m past the irritation of having it brought up.

“I don’t have a problem with cover versions of the songs and it is only annoying if people don’t add anything to it.

“The most exciting covers are ones that stray from the original and where other artists put their artistic stamp on it.

“I have heard many different versions of it from Ska to a French heavy metal version and it is interesting to hear it taken in another direction.”

A-ha have toured the world, including the legendary show at Maracana Stadium, Rio De Janeiro in 1991 which earned a Guinness World Record for the largest ever audience attendance at a paid concert – 196,000 people.

Magne says their latest tour will focus more on the band’s music than the mad hysteria which surrounded their early performances.

He said: “Whereas in the old days there was a hysterical element to the concerts, on this last tour we have a lot of luggage and hits on our back and people are listening more to the musical journey than getting excited just by us walking on stage.

“It is a different crowd that we are playing to as well. They are older and more appreciative to our kind of music in a way that got a little lost when we first started.

“This tour is probably more electronic than we have done for a long time and is a mixture of songs from our new album and whole history.

“Whereas on previous big tours we have treated the electronic material as rock songs or as acoustic numbers, on this one we are going the other way and taking rock songs from our mid-career and treating them more electronically.

“There are certain songs people appreciate hearing when they come to our show. Our job is to make those songs as relevant and meaningful to us and them as we can.”

A-ha’s final UK single Shadowside is out now and despite their sad farewell as a band, this will not be the last we see of the boys as individual artists.

In a joint statement the band thanked their fans and said: “We have literally lived the ultimate boy’s adventure tale, through a longer, more rewarding career than anyone could hope for.

“Doing this now will give us a chance to get more involved in other meaningful aspects of life, be it humanitarian work, politics, or whatever else – and of course through new constellations in the field of art and music.

“Change is always difficult and it is easy to get set in one’s ways. Now it is time to move on.”

A-Ha. The O2 arena, Greenwich. November 4. 0844 856 0202.