Over the course of one EP, an exquisite debut album, “The Line”, that emerged after 10 years of line-up changes, musical refinement and the relocation from the Liverpool art school where they first met, as well as a deeply atmospheric soundtrack for the videogame, “Kingdom Two Crowns: Norse Land”, the Norwegian/Swedish quartet have used elements of Norse folk, Scandic pop and alt and progressive rock without being beholden to any of them. In the process, and aerated by frontwoman Katrine Stenbekk’s sublime, stratosphere-ruffled vocals that belong to the same rarefied realms as artists such as Eivør, Aurora and Gåte’s Gunnhild Sundli, they’ve woven their own restless yet immersive world.
In true Kalandra fashion, the band’s new album, “A Frame Of Mind”, doesn’t just tell a story, it embodies one. Emphasising both the delicacy and the dynamism of “The Line”, both sonically and lyrically it gives voice to a shared sense of displacement, and the strength needed to navigate circumstances that can feel open-ended and unsettled. For all the space and scope it allows itself, “A Frame Of Mind” is a transformative experience, underpinned by a constant sense of motion and a feeling of one’s way towards resolution, as if new senses are emerging and being tested to their fullest extent.
For all the plaudits Kalandra have now gained, the rapturously received tours with Wardruna, Leprous and A.A. Williams, their viral cover of Wardruna’s “Helvegen” coming close to 6 million views on YouTube and over 7 million streams on Spotify, the closely-knit four piece – completed by guitarists Jogeir Daae Mæland and Florian Döderlein Winter and drummer Oskar Johnsen Rydh – went back to the outlook of that first 2017 EP, “Beneath The Breaking Waves”, when they were still trying to find a foothold and stepping into the unknown, in order to stay true to themselves.
Side A:
1. I Am (05:32) / 2. Untie The Knot (03:52) / 3. Are You Ready? (04:31) / 4. The State of the World (04:18) / 5. Bardaginn (05:33)
Side B:
6. A Life Worth Living (04:13) / 7. I'll Get There One Day (06:25) / 8. Hytta (04:24) / 9. Segla (04:58) / 10. I Remember A Time (04:20)
