🎶 Kalandra
🌎Oslo, Norway
📀The Other Side
® By Norse Music
📅 13/11/2026
Music is not only about complex compositions, fast or technical playing, and impressive solos. Above all, music is – or should be – about emotion. It is a vehicle that, through sound, awakens the senses, fills your mind with images and connects with your own personal experiences. Norwegian band KALANDRA have the unique ability to transport the listener from a frozen Norwegian forest to a warm Mediterranean shore or even to a distant constellation somewhere in another galaxy. And they achieve all this with nothing more than their notes and the ethereal voice of Katrine Ødegård Stenbekk.
Their new album, «The Other Side», manages to accomplish all of the above. As theυ explain, it is a concept album centered around the theme of dreams. Well before they started composing, the members decided to keep a dream journal and then transform those dreams into music. Thus, each song becomes the setting for a dream, a situation or an emotion that all of us have experienced at some point in our lives.
The album opens with «In The Shadow», a song about dreams that disappear into the shadows. It begins with Katrine’s beautiful voice accompanied by piano, while the chorus takes on a subtly playful character, much like nightmares often do when they deceive us and destroy any sense of happiness within a matter of seconds.
Take me away from here
This world unfolds like a fever dream
The hopes I held for my future
All dissolve in the shadows
With «Animals», KALANDRA step outside their comfort zone and deliver a more groove-driven and upbeat track, featuring singer-songwriter Elinborg from the Faroe Islands. The song deals with the beast that hides inside us and threatens to emerge when we deny it what it truly desires.
Oh I wanna release the animal
The one that hungers inside of us all
Deny my hunger, and I become the animal
Deny my hunger, and I will take control
With «Lost in the Dark», KALANDRA suddenly drop us into a dark and mysterious forest. The song moves at a slow pace throughout, but as it progresses, the intensity gradually builds, much like the fear that slowly takes hold of us when we find ourselves confronted with the unknown.
I crawl through the dark forest
With only one ear
Blind, deaf and frightened
Wildfire spreads like fear
«Let Me Be Open» begins with Katrine singing almost a cappella before the song gradually embraces all the folk influences that have become a defining characteristic of the band. Unlike the often-dark nature of their songs, however, KALANDRA are looking for a touch of optimism here, as well as the need for a little light.
Help me remember
How wonder feels inside
Feels like my shadow
Needs a place to hide
«Chasing Dreams» is largely instrumental and relies mainly on classical guitar and piano, which alternate in the leading role. Katrine’s warm voice steps in whenever necessary, reminding us that the past can take away dreams and hopes that we once believed we could turn into reality.
Chasing dreams, remembering
An end to all this suffering
I had it all within my grasp
Now it’s fading with the past
One of the most emotionally charged songs on the album is undoubtedly «A Ship Has Left The Shore», which deals with loss and the silent pain it leaves behind. The loved one who departs becomes a ship sailing away across calm waters, while we remain behind on the pier, powerless to do anything about it.
Personally, the song brought to mind one of the final scenes from «The Lord of the Rings», when some of the characters depart from the Grey Havens for a place of immortality. Memory can keep a loved one who has been lost alive within us, no matter how difficult that may be for those left behind. Here, Katrine also delivers one of the finest vocal performances on the entire album.
A ship has left the shore
The sound of silence roars
I sing this song for you
As a way to make it through
«Beauty and the Beast» brings back KALANDRA’s dark and almost gothic character, relying heavily on Katrine’s deep and captivating performance. The song takes on a distinctly cinematic quality and reaches its climax alongside the story it tells, ultimately becoming wild and frightening.
Swim swim a water lily for the thief
Swim swim from the belly of the beast
Swim swim something’s pulling from beneath
And the lily’s going under
On the next two tracks, KALANDRA collaborate with Icelandic indie folk-rock band Árstíðir, who are known for their vocal harmonies, with all of their members contributing vocals. «Descend The Stars» has an almost epic character, which is particularly enhanced by Árstíðir’s backing vocals.
Descend the stars
And join the night
With songs of distant lullabies
Between the hush of wake and dream
Caught somewhere in between
«The Other Side» serves as an instrumental bridge, with the choral vocals of Árstíðir and Katrine essentially becoming the sole musical instrument.
The album closes with «Melancholic», its longest track, dominated by heavy and majestic drums that create exactly what the title promises. A melancholic and heavy atmosphere in which all these emotions can numb you and lead you towards an almost catatonic state of apathy.
Constant unconscious melancholy
My conscience is constantly after me
Thoughtlessly caught in the apathy
I’m melanchoholic
With «The Other Side», KALANDRA open a gateway into their subconscious and invite us to take a glimpse into their innermost thoughts. And alongside them, to dive into our own subconscious, find our own demons and, rather than simply fighting them, accept them and perhaps try to live in harmony with them.
I first discovered KALANDRA when they made their debut appearance in Greece, supporting LEPROUS, around three years ago. The image of Katrine finishing «Borders» in tears – perhaps the most beautiful song they have ever written – is one of those moments I will never forget. One of those moments that reminded me of the incredible power music can have.
For me personally, «The Other Side» picks up the thread where «Borders» and that unique moment left off, transforming it into a kind of therapeutic tool. Not one that offers easy or painless solutions, though. Instead, it encourages you to look directly at what lies within you, to acknowledge your shadows and fears, and to accept that they too are part of who you are.
I cannot wait to hear it live.
★ 8.5/10
✍🏻 Kostas Boudoukos
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