Morten Harket working with Pet Shop Boys and Kent on new solo album

Morten Harket (A-ha) is working on his next solo album as you all know. Scheduled for a release in March 2012 in a distribution by Star Watch / Universal, we now also know that besides Pet Shop Boys also Kent will be involved in the song writing. In addition to writing much himself, Harket has been in contact with songwriters from different scenes, including the (Norwegian) electropop scene. But as it seems both Kent and Pet Shop Boys also contributed so Morten Harket's manager Harald Wiik tells the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.

Pet Shop Boys wrote one song, while Joakim Berg and Martin Shields of Kent contributed two new songs. Wiik also confirmed our earlier reporting that Steve Osborne, who previously worked with a-ha, New Order and Placebo, is producing the new album.

Morten Harket has previously released four solo albums, the last in 2008. In 1995 he took the grand slam during the Grammy awards with the album "Wild Seed" and the single "A Kind Of Christmas Card", as he won all the categories he was nominated in - best male artist, best album, this year's song and this year's fiddler.

The album will be followed by a full worldwide tour. So far only dates for Switzerland, France and the UK have been announced. Expect dates in Japan and Oceania as well. Here are the dates confirmed so far:

• May 2 - Zurich, Switzerland
  
• May 9 - Paris, France
  
• May 11 - Manchester, UK
  
• May 13 - London, UK
  
• May 14 - Birmingham

Harket's last solo album, "Letter From Egypt", was released in spring 2008.

Here's a video of Harket performing the evergreen "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

Posted by B. Van Isacker