Limelight
KALANDRA
Kalandra: offering listeners a new
Frame Of Mind.
PRESS/ LINNEA SYVERSEN
KATRINE STENBEKK WAS
studying music at the Liverpool Institute Of Performing Arts when she came up with what would become Kalandra.
“I really missed vocal techniques from all over the world being a bit more mainstream,” the Norwegian singer tells Prog. “I felt like I was hearing the same thing over and over in the charts and even in the metal scene. I wanted to make music that made my heart sing and resonated with me.”
It’s now been 13 years since the band started, and the four-piece have perfected their distinct fusion of folk and prog. Broadly speaking, they layer Stenbekk’s otherworldly vocals, inspired by everything from Scandinavian tradition to sea shanties, over contemporary and eclectic rock. Are You Ready?, from latest album A Frame Of Mind, builds from hypnotic melodies and acoustic guitars to electronic percussion and rumbling riffs. Bardaginn contrasts the modern guitar/bass/drums setup with ancient-sounding singing, whereas The State Of The World is a selfprofessed Simon & Garfunkel moment. It sings about the 21st-century world, but contrasts that theme by using only traditional instruments.