Short Reviews [Kaipa - 2024 - "Sommargryningsljus"]

When Roine Stolt seemed to appear from nowhere with ‘The Flower King’ in 1994, I am sure I was not the only proghead who wondered who Kaipa were, the band he had been involved with in the Seventies and was determined to discover more. I was soon playing their 1975 debut, but never thought the band would exist again, and given the success of his projects I was somewhat surprised to see Kaipa resurrect 20 years after their initial breakup with ‘Notes From The Past’ with Roine Stolt and Hans Lundin now forming a revised band with Patrik Lundstrom, Jonas Reingold and Morgan Agren along with various guests, including Aleena Gibson. Fast forward another 20+ years and Kaipa are back with their tenth album since the resurrection. Over that time the line-up has stayed remarkably stable, and although Roine has not been involved for some time, the line-up is now very similar to that from 2002 with Hans Lundin (keyboards, vocals), Patrik Lundstrom (vocals), Aleena Gibson (vocals), Jonas Reingold (bass), Per Nilsson (electric & acoustic guitars) and Darby Todd (drums). Both guests who appeared on the last album ‘Urskog’, Elin Rubinsztein (violin) and Olof Aslund (saxophone) are back again plus Fredrik Lindqvist (recorders & whistles). Incredibly, it is now 60 years since Hans Lundin's musical career started when he became a member of his first band as organist and singer, before forming Kaipa in 1973. ‘Sommargryningsljus’ (Summer Dawn Light) is the band’s fifteenth album and contains eight tracks portraying a nocturnal journey from dusk until dawn, with the first two tracks representing the twilight and the closing two indicating dawn. This nighttime odyssey can be seen as a metaphor for the state between death and rebirth, or as an allegory of life told in reverse. As with ‘Urskog’, Hans has been revisiting songs he wrote years ago for inspiration, with the basic structures of both “Seven Birds” and “Spiderweb Train” initially written when he was working material which would end up on ‘Notes From The Past’, which caused him also to revisit some synths and sounds he had not utilised in some time. Given the history of the band it is not surprising to find some similarities with The Flower Kings, which is a bit like finding similarities between Kansas and Proto Kaw, as there is an intertwined history both in personnel and influences. This is classic symphonic prog, but given the band were originally active in its heyday that is only to be expected, and that it is mostly keyboard driven with the rest of the guys bringing their elements to the arrangement to keep them as the central focus is also no shock. The use of different vocalists allows the band to widen the harmonies and palette of sounds at their disposal, while it is also intriguing to have songs both in English and Swedish. There is a real depth here, with music which feels as if it has been deeply thought through and constructed with care and passion, just like the old days, resulting in something which can be played multiple times and explored, with new discoveries each time. Kaipa continue to produce wonderful old school progressive rock and even if it is somewhat regressive in many ways, this old proghead finds much in here to enjoy.