Human Grace (180g)
Morten HarketLP1
- Human Grace
- Hold Me (feat. Tomine Harket)
- Falling Down (feat. Karmen Poppi A. Harket)
- Lord, I Can't Help You Now
- Now Your Heart Is Broken
- Shot of Fear
- Did I Leave You Behind
- What Is It You Want With Me
- The Old Church
- If I Ever See Your Face Again
A little over a year after he revealed that he is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, a-ha frontman Morten Harket makes a sensational return as a solo artist with a new single featuring his daughter Tomine, taken from the forthcoming album Human Grace, arriving November 27th.
The new album is a coherent blend of uplifting pop, swaggering melodic rockers and more sombre ballad material. It features songs with big, soaring arrangements, as well as more raw and intimate moments, It might be his most personal statement yet, dealing with matters of love, connection and the human condition: «To me, this album is a celebration of life. I have always loved true beauty, and I keep finding that there is nothing more beautiful in life than love. So why are we humans making life into a darker place? We are becoming limp bystanders these days to forces in us that want to let our primal drives decide who we are.»
Human Grace is framed by family. Two of Morten Harket's daughters, Tomine Harket and Karmen Poppi A. Harket, both make special guest appearances. The first single, «Hold Me», featuring Tomine Harket (33), is an emotionally charged ballad, highlighting the vocal interplay between father and daughter. «Hold Me» was co-written by Morten,Tomine and Peter Kvint, with lyrics by Harket and Ole Sverre Olsen. Harket found working with his daughters fulfilling: «My relationship with them has very little to do with my professional life. That is just something they’ve had to deal with. Encountering them like this, in a recording situation, was interesting. I was very impressed.»
That he had two songs he was unable to finish, turned out to be a blessing in disguise: «I wanted those songs on the album, but couldn't finish the vocals. Then I thought, ‘why don't I ask my daughters?’. After I did, I started wondering why I hadn't done it before.«
Morten Harket has previously explained that one of the symptoms of Parkinson’s is the loss of control of his voice. With the disturbing news of his condition, it seemed unlikely that we would be hearing new music from the uniquely gifted singer anytime soon. All the more emotionally charged, then, are the news of his return: «I had to get Parkinson’s to do this», he explains. «It all became more urgent. I needed to do something meaningful. I had been writing songs and recording over the years since Brother, in between working with a-ha. Peter [Kvint, co-writer, multi-instrumentalist, producer] and I started looking at the material with new eyes, finding ourselves pleasantly surprised by the quality and coherence of what was waiting to be freed up.»
Human Grace will be Harket’s seventh solo album since 1993. His career as iconic a-ha frontman spans almost 45 years. Formed in Oslo in 1982 by keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Harket, a-ha catapulted to superstardom in 1985 with their debut album Hunting High and Low and the global hit single «Take On Me». The single, and its accompanying video, remains an iconic 80s pop classic, appearing in numerous films and tv series and amassing billions of streams. a-ha has released 11 studio albums, evolving over the years from cinematic synth-pop to a more seasoned blend of pop-rock, soaring vocal melodies, and signature Nordic melancholy.
Human Grace was recorded and mixed over a twelve month period, from July 2025 to July 2026, utilising vocal recordings made by Harket in the years since the release of his last album, Brother. Morten has worked closely with Stockholm-based producer Peter Kvint, who also worked on a-has Cast in Steel and Harket’s Out of My Hands and Brother. Together, they selected song demos and studio recordings made for a possible future album, as basis for further work towards the finished result.
Some new vocals were recorded during the last 12 months, while the material was developed further with all new arrangements and instrumentation. A group of ace session musicians contributed, as did longtime Harket keyboard collaborator Kjetil Bjerkestrand and a-ha live keyboard stalwart Erik Ljunggren, the latter overseeing post production. The album was produced by Kvint and Harket, and mixed by Jonas Kroon. For the lyrics, Harket reunited with his long-time writing partner, Ole Sverre Olsen.
As Harket observes, the songs, while written and recorded over more than a decade, seems to fit together like peas in a pod: «The songs were not written with this album in mind. But they ended up together, forming a strangely cohesive unit. And, I should add; each and every song is the result of the collaborative effort of my team.»
Human Grace will arrive November 27th as CD, black 180g vinyl, and exclusive D2C beige vinyl, available for pre-order starting today.