Album review: KALANDRA – A Frame Of Mind

September 30th, 2024 by GRTR! HQ

By Norse Music [Release date 13.09.24]

What is it with Scandinavia – still enticing and alluring with it’s Scandi Noir blend of melancholy and repressed emotion? If you want an album to soothe the soul as we head out of a mixed-bag summer and into the winter fray, look no further than Kalandra.

This is their third album release (if you include their video game soundtrack piece) and it is simply immersive. From the opener ‘I Am’ this Nordic beauty will enrich and energise in equal measure.

What is it with the frail folksy vocal (Katrine Stenbekk) that hits the spot every time combined with engaging orchestration as on ‘Are You Ready?’ and ‘The State Of The World’. It’s like First Aid Kit meet Katatonia.

‘A Life Worth Living’ is another standout and perfectly sums up this band, this time with a more purposeful stride whilst ‘I’ll Get There One Day’ has a wonderful playout.

The band haven’t quite broken away from their folk background on this album and the closing tracks ‘Hytta’, ‘Segla’ (sung in native tongue) and ‘I Remember The Time’ point to their earlier incarnation with the debut EP ‘Beneath The Breaking Waves’ in 2017.

The band, based in Oslo, have been in existence for some 13 years and beset by line-up changes which suggests why we have only had three albums, including the debut ‘The Line’ in 2020. Vocalist Katrine joined them in 2013 when she was studying in Liverpool. This brings to mind another band who have emerged from that city (and the performing arts school) in recent years, the similarly energising Exploring Birdsong.

Turn on the heat, settle down with your favourite tipple, and let ‘A Frame Of Mind’ wash over you as you contemplate cooler days ahead. The perfect antidote. ****1/2

Review by David Randall

The band are currently on tour in Europe

01/10 – IT Turin, Ziggy
02/10 – IT Milan, Legend
03/10 – SL Ljubljana, Kino Siska
04/10 – HR Zagreb, Mochvara
05/10 – BU Sofia, Mixtape5
06/10 – RO Bucharest, Quantic
07/10 – RO Cluj-Napoca, Form Space
08/10 – HU Budapest, Instant
09/10 – CZ Prague, Underdogs
11/10 – PL Warsaw, Hybrydy
12/10 – DE Berlin, Hole
13/10 – DE Hamburg, Bahnhof Pauli
14/10 – DK Copenhagen, Pumpehuset
15/10 – SE Gothenburg, Fangelset
16/10 – SE Stockholm, Kollektivet Livet
18/10 – NO Bergen, Kulturhuset
19/10 – NO Stavanger, Folken
25/10 – NO Trondheim, Havet
26/10 – NO Oslo, Parkteater Yngling
26/10 – NO Oslo, Parkteater Scene

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)