‘A Frame Of Mind’ has been a favourite album of mine and made my ‘Best of 2024′ and I was sorry not to have seen the band playing a brief UK tour in late September last year. I couldn’t believe that they were back for another short UK spring tour and not a million miles away at a favourite venue.

The band’s blend of melancholic indie folk is probably best suited to an arts centre or small theatre, so a tour that includes an essentially rock venue like the 100-years-old Tivoli (wonderful as it is) is intriguing. With a gig at close-by Liverpool a few days earlier surely attendance wouldn’t be great? Well, the band’s singer called it intimate. Maybe there were a lot of “no-shows” a trend venue manager Roki told us was on the increase where punters buy tickets but don’t show up. This isn’t any good for bar sales.

Since their debut EP in 2017 Kalandra have never lost their original indie-folk style but for wider acceptance I wondered if they might start to dilute this aspect. On the basis of this gig, probably not. Reading between the lines it seems this band are on a journey, and will maybe go where the mood takes them rather than any abject commerciality.

The setlist freely mixed the rockier with the folksy and weighted slightly more to their equally excellent debut ‘The Line’. Only ‘A Life Worth Living’ seemed a glowing omission from the ‘A Frame Of Mind’ selection and it would have been good to hear ‘I’ll Get There One Day’ (especially the end playout). ‘I Am’ and ‘The State Of The World’ were particularly impressive as expected.

‘Bukkehorn Jam’ was an instrumental led by Jogeir Daae Maeland’s horn (ooh missus) whilst the beautiful ‘Virkelighetens Etterklang’, rousing ‘Ensom’ and closer ‘Bardaginn’ sung in native tongue further attested the captivating vocals of Katrine who studied for a time in Liverpool (at LIPA).

The sonic textures weaved by fellow band members (with Henrik Dullum deputising for Oskar Johnsen Rydh on drums) were also convincing although aided by backing tape. Energetic and ethereal in equal measure. And at times coming across like the soundtrack to a Scandi Noir thriller populated by marauding Vikings.

Reading the album credits for the first time (where is the lyric booklet?) it seems that Katrine has spent some time in therapy and there is a life affirming spirit present in the music and an undercurrent to “take care of ourselves” and the planet. We can all identify with this and we must bear in mind that Kalandra like all artists have been scuppered by the pandemic. Their debut album was released in October 2020.

The band have been in existence for 13 years and need to be more widely known, certainly outside their native Norway. Another album and tour should crack it.

Setlist: The Waiting Game/Slow Motion/Naive/I Am/Virkelighetens Etterklang/Bukkehorn jam/Borders/Untie The Knot/Segla/Ensom/Are You Ready?/It Gets Easier/The State Of The World/Helvegen/Brave New World/Bardaginn

A word about tonight’s support multi-instrumentalist Natalie Evans. We caught the tail end of her short set but ‘Movements’ her current album will repay further investigation.

Review and photos by David Randall

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Album review (A Frame Of Mind, 2024)

30/05 – UK Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
31/05 – UK Southampton, Papillon
01/06 – NL Utrecht, TivoliVredenburg
03/06 – DE Essen, Turock
04/06 – DE Osnabruck, Bastard Club
05/06 – DE Nuremberg, Stereo
06/06 – AT Vienna, Simm City
07/06 – SK Bratislava, Randal
08/06 – DE Leipzig, Wave Gotik Treffen
13/08 – UK ArcTanGent Festival, Fernhill Farm, Bristol
14/08 – UK ArcTanGent Festival, Fernhill Farm, Bristol

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Power Plays w/c 16 June 2025

LOVE NOR MONEY Blood Will Tell (Golden Robot Records)
DISCIPLES OF VERITY Break The Cycle (TLG/Zoid)
BLACKLIST UNION Up In Smoke (BLU Records)
ANDY AND THE ROCKETS Cyanide (Valley Music Delapop)
ARCHERS Crooked Smile (SBG Records)
ZETRA So (Nuclear Blast)
HOLLOW SOULS Shotgun (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 16 June 2025

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

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