Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Kalandra are a special breed of band, musicians, haunting lyrics and melodies that flow with the breeze that has combined two distinct planes of existence, one that dominates the heart and the mind, and by doing so they have understood A Frame Of Mind few of us are able to explore with certainty and belief.
Whilst steeped in the Nordic soul of their collective upbringings, the genuineness of the performance can be found rooted in the streets and venues of Liverpool, a combination so incredible that this album has every pore gushing with the two signs of music in one sense of absolute genuine brilliance. A Frame Of Mind is the result of everything the band searched for, that their guiding presence that nurtured the fans and took hold of the ethereal is spiritually welcoming and devastatingly humble.
From the historic Liverpool streets where they showed their determination, arguably the hardest, but most welcoming city in the U.K., in which to gain attention, back to the Scandinavian heartlands where the now Norwegian and Swedish quartet have refined, even excelled their sound and are surely considered pioneers in the tradition of Norse Folk.
The sound of captivation storms the ears as Katrine Stenbekk’s vocals restlessly play with the delicate nature of human existence and the sense of tenderness that comes from being alive, and combining that throughout the album with a force of musicianship that is akin to the battle cry of warriors as they pay homage to the ancestors in those illuminating spectrums of light as they dance across the sky is one of the most daring, productive, and alluring sets of music to be heard this year.
From the burgeoning beginning which brings I Am, Untie The Knot, and Are You Ready? to the fore of the listener’s senses, and through tracks such as the excellent A Life Worth Living, I’ll Get There One Day, and the genius in the finale of I Remember A Time, the quartet, Katrine Stenbekk, Jogeir Daae Mæland, Florian Döderlein Winter, and Oskar Johnsen Rydh unite in deep refinement, the frame of mind, started in the streets of the city by the Mersey and further inflamed by tales from the Nordic lands, is heroic, far-sighted, enthused by personal enlightenment and above all one of the great recordings of 2024.
Kalandra returns to the vision of the music lover’s attention, and do so with aplomb and vigour.
Kalandra release A Frame Of Mind on September 13th.
Ian D. Hall