Kalandra – A Frame of Mind [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]

Before festivals, I like to listen to at least a song or two for every band on the lineup I don’t know so I can optimize my schedule.1 When Kalandra came up as I prepared for ATG, I had to force myself to stop listening and move to the next band. “Folk/prog rock, really good, definitely see,” I wrote. This was an understatement. Their set was fantastic. Some bands just have presence. Through some combination of writing, musicianship, and the way they move, they step out onto the stage and everybody is immediately captivated. Kalandra is one of them. From their opening notes, they conjure something spellbinding… and then Katrine Stenbekk sings, and the results are something else.

Folk/prog rock is indeed the basis on A Frame of Mind. Acoustic guitars and strings play Nordic folk-inflected melodies. Electric guitars, distorted but rarely harsh, come in for the swells and crescendos. The instrumentation alone is great. The composition is consistently stellar. The use of, and transitions between, sparse and heavy movements are deft and surprising. Every song is beautiful and atmospheric. (Just bathe in the interlude track “Hytta,” for example.) But the real standout is the vocals. Katrine Stenbekk is incredibly charismatic and emotive. She flows from fragile to powerful, warm and folky to cutting, often within a single song. Live, she’s even better, as she’s also a great performer. This isn’t to say this is a one-woman show; her voice ebbs and flows with the instruments. Little musical twists reflect and reinforce the lyrics and stick in your mind.

A Frame of Mind by KALANDRA

A Frame of Mind tackles some heavy themes with an openness and occasionally bluntness that recalls GGGOLDDD, and this is a major contributor to its success. Opening track “I Am” is about generational trauma. “Are You Ready?” is a wonderfully creepy song about cult recruiting. The different perspectives are woven subtly through the music, and I adore how the song shifts as the narrator gets drawn in. “I Remember a Time” and “The State of the World” discuss, well, the state of the world, with a level of self-awareness that lands what’s ultimately a naively hopeful message in a bleak place. “Bardaginn” is perhaps the most straightforward, and heaviest, song on the record, with a great groove. It’s also written in Old Norse (helpfully with an official translation provided), about fighting on when it’s hopeless. It’s rare that I particularly care about the lyrics on a record, and it’s the interesting subjects combined with composition that actually works with the lyrics that pull me in here.

Kalandra are one of those bands where I wonder how I didn’t discover them earlier. Everything about them appeals to me, and their prior album The Line is also brilliant but had entirely passed me by. Fortunately, those of you who had also missed Kalandra need do so no longer. I cannot recommend A Frame of Mind enough. Clever writing, gorgeous atmosphere, moving themes, and the year’s best vocal performance make for a fantastic album.

Tracks to Check Out: “Are You Ready?,” “Bardaginn,” “The State of the World,” “I Am”

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