For twelve years, Norway’s own Red Kite have kept listeners perched on the edge of their seats with a fearless, full‑throttle approach to jazz‑rock, a sound drenched in their own flavour, their own bite, and their own sax‑driven chaos that makes you blurt out, “What the hell just happened? Play that again.”
From their early days on RareNoise Records to their landing on Karisma’s sub‑label Is It Jazz? Records, their new album This Too Shall Pass shows absolutely no sign of the band easing off the accelerator.
Following 2021’s Apophenian Bliss, this new release feels like a powder keg wired to blow at any second. It fuses the warm eccentricity of the Canterbury scene with the ferocity of Krokofant, the doom‑laden stomp of Black Sabbath, the volcanic energy of Elephant9, and flashes of The Mars Volta, all tossed into a wasabi‑laced smoothie with a slice of lemon for good measure.
Their Rhodes‑soaked improvisations channel the spirit of the ‘Texas of Sweden,’ and Red Kite slam the gavel down hard, announcing to the jazz‑rock world that they’re revved up, restless, and ready to unleash even more blistering textures. ‘Bernt’ dives headfirst into a sax‑driven maelstrom worthy of Coltrane, Crimson’s Ian McDonald, and Van der Graaf Generator’s David Jackson; fiery, unhinged, and right in your face.
‘No Safe Harbour’ erupts with a thunderous boom, dragging you into a menacing, dust‑choked showdown straight out of the Man With No Name trilogy. It’s the kind of storm‑charged improvisation that would leave Sergio Leone staring in disbelief.
Then comes the smoky, black‑and‑white haze of the late ’50s and early ’60s on the closing track, ‘All’s Well That Ends’. Just when you think the curtain has fallen, the music fades back in for a final two‑minute‑and‑twenty‑six‑second epilogue: sax, organ, bass, and drums strolling through a New Orleans night, drifting into the French Quarter, slipping into Preservation Hall, and playing until dawn to help the city shake off its worries.
Red Kite are fully back in action, and they’ve cranked the voltage straight into the heart of the jazz community. The result is a wild, immersive ride, one that reminds you exactly why this band matters.
