Enough about "Take On Me," already . . .!

Yes, them.

The ones who did “Take on Me.”

If you really stretch your memory, you might recall that they’re also the ones who did “The Sun Always Shines on TV”, “Cry Wolf”, and the theme song to one of the (arguably) lesser James Bond movies, The Living Daylights. Folks who were listening to adult contemporary radio around 1991 may even remember their cover of the Everly Brothers’ “Crying in the Rain”, which made a minor dent on that particular format.

But to the general US public, they’re just the ones who did “Take on Me”, which would explain why the band’s last album, Minor Earth | Major Sky, and their current album, Lifelines, haven’t received Stateside release.

Prior to Minor Earth | Major Sky being released in 2000, the band hadn’t put out an album since 1993’s Memorial Beach. In those seven years, lead singer Morten Harket released a solo album or two, Pal Waaktaar became Paul Waakataar-Savoy and released a few albums as Savoy, and Magne “Mags” Furuholmen . . . well, he left the world of music altogether and took up painting.

It’s a shame that the band disintegrated immediately after Memorial Beach, because, with that album, a-ha had finally found a new voice. The band found itself with a teenybopper following after debuting with Hunting High and Low and scoring the hit single that remains the albatross around their neck to this day. Perhaps in an attempt to prove that they were really more about moody, melancholy pop tracks, their sophomore effort, Scoundrel Days, was decidedly more downbeat, with less in the way of obvious hit singles. Predictably, it soared nowhere near the chart heights of its predecessor . . . and, by nothing resembling coincidence, the next record, Stay on These Roads, sounded like a desperate attempt at remaining commercially viable.

It failed.

When the next disc, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, emerged, opening as it did with a cover song (the aforementioned “Crying in the Rain”), skeptics immediately said, “Pft. A-ha is REALLY done NOW, if they have to resort to a cover song for the first single off a new album!” In fact, however, East of the Sun was the first album where a-ha began to play to their strengths; the music was more mellow, less about hit singles and more about smooth tunes that win you over with sheer emotion. When Memorial Beach appeared two years later, the evolution was complete. a-ha had mastered their new sound.

As such, it is the last a-ha album to date to be released in the US. Too bad. Minor Earth | Major Sky was arguably the best album of the band’s career, and Lifelines, while not quite as stellar, is still mighty darned good.

As with its predecessor, Lifelines leads off with its Stephen Hague-produced title track, and, also like its predecessor, it’s one of the strongest tracks on the album. The production throughout the album is crisp and clean; in addition to Hague, ‘80s music fans will also immediately note that Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley man the boards on a few tracks as well. (Other producers include Martin Landquist, Ian Caple, Tore Johansson, and even Paul Waaktaar-Savoy himself.) “Forever Not Yours”, wasn’t a bad choice for the album’s first single, but “Lifelines”, which proved to be the second track released to radio overseas, would’ve been better.

“Afternoon High” is a breezy pop track that sounds like just flew in from a ‘70s AM radio compilation somewhere. “Did Anyone Approach You?”, with its bleeps and bloops, could surely be remixed into a dance club favorite. “Oranges on Appletrees” has a semi-psychedelic feel to it, which was no doubt intended, given a chorus including phrases like, “Oranges on appletrees / Birds that mate with bumblebees / Multigender wannabes / Endless possibilities”. “Dragonfly” includes keyboards that bring to mind the Stranglers’ “Golden Brown”.

“Turn the Lights Down” is arguably the best track on the album. A duet with Anneli Drecker (best known for her work with Bel Canto), it’s a swaying, romantic number, with lovely harmonizing between Harket and Drecker, Harket promising a swift return home, Drecker reminding him that “I cannot help you / You yourself must see / Decide now what you want to be”. By the end, they’re both crooing to each other how “I want to sleep by your side / It makes me feel so alive”.

There are a few tracks which aren’t necessarily up to snuff, one of which comes pretty early on in the festivities (“You Wanted More” is the second track), but there isn’t a legitimately duff track in the bunch. Let’s recap, then, shall we?

a-ha. Not dead. Not even resting. Still very much a viable commodity. Just ask anyone in Norway, Germany, or, really, any European country. Or, better yet, pick up Lifelines and hear for yourself.