Just over a year since he revealed that he is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Morten Harket, frontman for a-ha, has made a sensational return as a solo artist, with a new single, ‘Hold Me’, which features his daughter Tomine. The track is taken from his upcoming album, ‘Human Grace’, which is set for release on the 27th of November this year.
‘Human Grace’ is available to pre-save/pre-order here. New single, ‘Hold Me’, is available to stream and download here. You can watch the official music video for ‘Hold Me’ below.
New album, ‘Human Grace’, comprises a blend of uplifting pop, melodic rock songs, and more sombre ballads. Some of the songs feature soaring arrangements, while others are more raw, and intimate. It’s quite possibly Harket’s most personal work yet, as he tackles such topics as love, connection, and the human condition. In addition to Tomine, ‘Human Grace’ features another of his daughters, Karmen Poppi A. Harket.
Speaking of the album, Harket said,
“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”.
First single, ‘Hold Me’, is an emotionally charged ballad, and highlights the vocal interplay between father and daughter. The song was co-written by Morten, Tomine and Peter Kvint, with lyrics by Harket and Ole Sverre Olsen. Harket found working with his daughters fulfilling, and says,
“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. He’s been the iconic a-ha frontman for nearly 45 years. Formed in Oslo in 1982 by keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Harket, a-ha leapt to superstardom in 1985 with their debut album, ‘Hunting High and Low’, and the massive 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 since 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-ha’s ‘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 Morten 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 from today.
Find out more about Morten Harket and his music online on Instagram, and Facebook.
