Embryonic a-ha album by Bridges to be released for the first time later this year

This is the cover to the first Bridges album

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy confirms the news to SDE

The second album recorded in by Norwegian rock band Bridges is going to be given an official release on vinyl later this year. Along with a few other musicians, a-ha songwriter and guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy was in the group with future a-ha bandmate Magne Furuholmen. Morten Harket would see Bridges play live and with Paul and Magne the trio would  head to London (in Paul’s words) “to become pop stars”.

The album is called Poem and was recorded but never mixed, never mind released. Only 1000 copies of the first self-titled album pressed locally on the band’s own Våkenatt label, so there is very little official Bridges product out there!

Speaking to me backstage at the O2 in London, before the final date of a-ha’s acoustic tour Paul revealed the reissue plans…

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: One vinyl book that’s coming out is the unreleased Bridges album…

SDE: That’s interesting!

Paul: Yeah…so that’s going to be a big to do, for a while.

SDE: Is that planned for this year?

Paul: Yes, that’s planned for this year. We got the 16-track tape and I mixed it and we’ve got tons of cool pictures, and old reviews and it actually sounds pretty good. And it’s got old songs… the early version of Scoundrel Days on it, the first version of Soft Rains Of April and a lot of other stuff that are actually very… I’d re-record them now, if I could.

SDE: Will you keep it just as the album as it was, or will there be any bonus material?

Paul: Well, it’s all a bonus! It never came out… because the money we were supposed to use to mix that album… we went to London to become pop stars. It’s never been mixed it’s all just sitting there on a multi-track.

The full interview with Paul will be published on SDE next week. If you’d like to know more about Bridges, there is a great feature by Barry Page on The Electricity Club website.