Lars Sundestrand
Since surfacing into the Scandinavian synth-pop scene 16 years ago, Nicklas Stenemo and Christian Hutchinson Berg aka KITE have steadily grown from local icons to a global phenomenon. The band released their collection VII last year: a 14-song collection showcasing KITE’s distinctly cinematic strain of Swedish darkwave in all its glory and desolation.
Following the release, in February of 2025, KITE performed on ice— live at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The stunning, sold out, once-in-a-lifetime concert in a 16,000 capacity indoor arena was flanked by synchronized figure skaters, light shows and video panels. KITE was notably joined by The Cardigans very own Nina Persson for their single “Heartless Places” which now arrives alongside a music video directed Martin Malm (video artist and member of Audionom).
Additionally, “Heartless Places” was remixed by Alessandro Cortini, keyboardist of Nine Inch Nails, which you can check out here. KITE comments: “Alessandro is a huge source of inspiration for us. If you know him from NIN but haven’t heard his solo works you are in for a treat.
Please check out his catalogue and we recommend that you start with ’Avanti’ – it’s a masterpiece!”
Continuing their forward momentum in 2025, KITE will perform at Cruel World Festival in Pasadena, CA on May 17th alongside legends New Order, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Devo and more. Later this year, KITE will appear at Sweden’s Way Out West Festival.
