Original Article By Espen Olsen Langfeldt - (Translation by Sabine Clement) a-ha's future dangled from a thin thread PARIS (VG) - Morten Harket reveals that he wanted to give up his career had he found out he wasn't capable of songwriting. A new a-ha album would never even have seen the light of day hadn't some of Morten's own songs been included. The picture of the three of them, with the Eiffel Tower in the background, looks idyllic and nostalgic, but behind the scenes, Magne, Morten and Paul have fought hard to make their own mark upon the album and a-ha's future. The result: two Harket-only compositions, one Furuholmen song, three songs by the combo Furuholmen/Waaktaar-Savoy and no less than seven songs signed by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, either by himself or together with his wife Lauren. On the album, both Harket compositions stand out the most. Those are the two songs that sound least like a-ha. "I would have quit as an artist if I hadn't been able to write my own songs. The solo album 'Wild Seed' was a turning point for me. Suddenly, I was appreciated as a songwriter, and that meant a lot to me. Had my songs not come to me, it would have been natural for me to quit," forty year old Morten tells. "I quite simply had no more reserves to draw from. I needed to give my career a new impulse, and the solution lay in writing my own songs," he says. Objections "Would there have been a new a-ha album had your songs not been included?" "I doubt it," he says. When it comes to the finished product, the bandmember who's been the most commendatory about the new album, Magne Furuholmen, now has the most reservations. Furuholmen is responsible for the song 'Company Man', a revealing song about the boy's opinion on many people in the record business. One of those mentioned is Andy Wickham, the man who got a-ha their contract back then. "The album version is not the best version of the song, it comes out somewhat handicapped. I wanted to have more verses, and be more direct, but I'll make sure it'll be released in a different version, no matter what," he says. Furuholmen is also of the opinion that the three album contract they signed with Warner Germany doesn't have much value. "When I don't feel comfortable about it, I step out. All contracts can be broken," he says. Paul Waaktaar Savoy, who has taken a new surname as well as changed his first name - to avoid setting the unofficial American record for the most double 'aa's in one name - still carries the most weight in the band's music. "Incredibly pleased" His personal favorite is the final track, 'Mary Ellen Makes The Moment Count', a song where a-ha is undeniably Savoy. "It's indeed a song I wrote with Savoy in mind, and we would have recorded it [with Savoy]. But the other guys liked it so much, and I was very pleased with the a-ha version." Paul is single-handedly responsible for the single 'Summer Moved On' - and he claims that it is not purely out of commercial reasons that the song begins with plinking Spanish guitars. "Those guitars are there, simply because I listened a lot to Jos‚ Feliciano at the time I wrote the song. The lyrics are meant to be slightly biographical about the band. It is wonderful that exactly this song is doing so well on the radio now," he says a-ha refuses to have Warner distributing the new album in the States, and they are now negotiating with Universal about a possible US launch.In Norway and the rest of Europe, the record will be released on April 17.