RED KITE
Norwegian four-piece find meaningful connections via jazz and heavy rock.
IN PSYCHOLOGY, THE term ‘apophenia’ refers to our ability to find deep and meaningful connections between things that are entirely unrelated. The state cited in the title of Red Kite’s new album, Apophenian Bliss, perhaps points to the satisfaction of disparate, seemingly random musical elements coalescing into one powerful statement.
Formed in 2013 by bassist Trond Frønes, guitarist Even Helte Hermansen, drummer Torstein Lofthus, and keyboardist Bernt André Moen, the band spent their initial sessions jamming to tunes by Black Sabbath, Kiss and Miles Davis. That mix of heavy rock and jazz might seem odd but then Norway has a long tradition of mixing things up when it comes to its music, argues Hermansen. “There are lots of us who all grew up with rock music, and then discovered and came to love jazz along the way, or vice versa but we didn’t find the need to abandon one for the other. We just loved both. In that way, it’s kind of organic.”