Out of My Hands (Morten Harket album)

Out of My Hands
Studio album by Morten Harket
Released April 13, 2012
Recorded Norway
(Ljunggren Studio, Snowdrop Studios)
England
(Real World Studios)
Sweden
(Studio Brun, Quant Studios)
Genre Synthpop, pop rock
Label Universal, Island, We Love Music
Producer Morten Harket, Lars Hustoft, Peter Kvint, Erik Ljunggren, Steve Osborne, Jonas Quant
Morten Harket chronology

Letter from Egypt
(2008)		 Out of My Hands
(2012)		 Brother
(2014)
Singles from Out of My Hands
  1. "Lightning"
    Released: 9 March 2012
  2. "Scared of Heights"
    Released: 27 March 2012
  3. "I'm the One"
    Released: 23 November 2012
Singles from Out of My Hands (UK)
  1. "Scared of Heights"
    Released: 14 May 2012
  2. "I'm the One"
    Released: 9 July 2012
  3. "Burn Money Burn"
    Released: 29 October 2012

Out of My Hands is the fifth studio album and third English-language album by Norwegian pop singer Morten Harket. It was released on April 13, 2012 through Island Records.[1] The album was mainly produced by British record producer Steve Osborne, who worked with a-ha on their ninth and final studio album, Foot of the Mountain (2009). Upon its release, the album received generally mixed reviews from Norwegian music critics. The album charted at number one in Norway, becoming the singer's third number-one album there.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Adresseavisen [2]
Aftenposten [3]
Dagbladet [4]
Dagsavisen [5]
Drammens Tidende [6]
Fædrelandsvennen [7]
Hamar Arbeiderblad [8]
Nordlys negative[9]
Verdens Gang [10]

Nick Levine of the BBC gave the album a favourable review, and wrote: "There's a similar dignity to Morten Harket's first solo album since the split. It's a grown-up synth-pop affair featuring songs that vary in pace all the way from a fairly slow mid-tempo to, ooh, a fairly fast mid-tempo. Actually, Out of My Hands doesn't sound too different from the last few a-ha albums, but it's also fresh enough to recall Echoes, Will Young's stellar electro-pop LP from last year."[11]

In his review for Daily Express, Simon Gage gave the album three out of five stars writing, "The famous falsetto is still very much in evidence and the songs strong if a little on the dated side with driving guitars and lush orchestrations making it sound remarkably a-ha-esque."[12]

Track listing

No. TitleLyricsMusicProducer(s) Length
1. "Scared of Heights"  Espen LindLindErik Ljunggren 3:22
2. "Keep the Sun Away"  David Sneddon, James Bauer-Mein, Julian PeakeSneddon, Bauer-Mein, PeakeSteve Osborne, Ljunggren 3:19
3. "Lightning"  Joakim Berg, Martin Sköld, Morten HarketBerg, Sköld, HarketOsborne, Erik Ljunggren 3:52
4. "I'm the One"  Ole Sverre Olsen, HarketHarket, Peter KvintLjunggren, Kvint 3:22
5. "Quiet"  Olsen, HarketHarket, KvintKvint, Harket 4:19
6. "Burn Money Burn"  Berg, Harket[a]BergLjunggren, Osborne 3:52
7. "When I Reached the Moon"  Håvard RemHarket, KvintOsborne 3:50
8. "Listening"  Neil Tennant, Chris LoweTennant, LoweOsborne 4:53
9. "Just Believe It"  Olsen, Berg, HarketBerg, Jonas QuantJonas Quant 3:28
10. "Out of My Hands"  Harket, OlsenHarket, Lars K. HustoftHustoft, Harket, Kvint 3:37
German, France and UK bonus track[13][14][15]
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
11. "Undecided"  Hågen Rørmark, Christian Engebretsen, Tor Einar Krogtoft-Jensen 3:33
Notes

Charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart[16] 30
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[17] 90
Dutch Albums Chart[18] 77
French Albums Chart 29
German Albums Chart[19] 3
Norwegian Albums Chart[20] 1
Swiss Albums Chart[21] 23
UK Albums Chart[22] 37

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label
Austria[23] April 13, 2012 CD, digital download Universal Music Group, Island Records, We Love Music
Belgium[23]
France[23]
Germany[23]
Netherlands[23]
Switzerland[23]
United Kingdom[24] May 14, 2012 Wrasse Records

References

  1. ↑ "MORTEN HARKET - News - Album "Out Of My Hands": So klingt Mortens "Post-a-ha-Ära" - Immer top informiert über die neuesten Alben, Konzerte und Musik-Videos". Universal Music. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Veronika Søum. "Sjelløs synthpop" (in Norwegian). adressa.no. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  3. ↑ Robert Veiåker Johansen. "Mann uten band - Aftenposten". Aftenposten.no. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  4. ↑ "Harket bærer tomheten på sine brede skuldre - kultur". Dagbladet.no. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  5. ↑ Espen H. Rusdal. "Ensformig vellyd - Dagsavisen". Dagsavisen.no. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  6. ↑ Jon Vidar Bergan. "Anmeldelse av Morten Harkets album Out of My Hands". Dt.no. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  7. ↑ Rune Slyngstad (2012-04-13). "Forlenger a-ha". fvn.no. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  8. ↑ "Morten Harket - Hamar Arbeiderblad". H-a.no. 2012-04-17. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  9. ↑ "Denne skiva kan 90-tallet få tilbake" (in Norwegian Bokmål). nordlys.no. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  10. ↑ "a-Harket - VG Nett". Vg.no. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  11. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/pn6m
  12. ↑ http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/319453/CD-Review-Morten-Harket-Out-Of-My-Hands
  13. ↑ "iTunes - Musik – "Out of My Hands (Special Version)" von Morten Harket". Itunes.apple.com. 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  14. ↑ "Out of My Hands by Morten Harket - Preorder Out of My Hands on iTunes". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  15. ↑ "The writers behind ‘Undecided’". The Official Website of a-ha. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  16. ↑ "Morten Harket - Out Of My Hands - austriancharts.at" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  17. ↑ "ultratop.be - Morten Harket - Out Of My Hands" (in French). Ultratop. ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  18. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl - Morten Harket - Out Of My Hands" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  19. ↑ "Die Ärzte mit achtem Nummer-eins-Album" (in German). Media Control Charts. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  20. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com - Morten Harket - Out Of My Hands". VG-lista. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  21. ↑ "Morten Harket - Out Of My Hands - hitparade.ch" (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  22. ↑ "Archive Chart". UK Albums Chart. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2012-05-12.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 "Album release dates". Morten Harket Official Website. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  24. ↑ http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007G5O3K0/