Swedish synth-pop phenomenon KITE’s second seven inch— Losing b/w Glassy Eyes— since signing with Dais Records in 2023 finds the duo of Nicklas Stenemo and Christian Hutchinson Berg swinging for new heights of romantic desolation and baroque grandeur.
The album’s b-side, “Glassy Eyes,” showcases Kite’s mastery of somber, sweeping balladry. Hushed church organ elevates and anchors Stenemo’s devastated confessional, swaying between resilience and defeat.
The band describes the song as a reckoning with “the privileged and existential anxiety of drifting through life dispassionately,” contrasted with “the yearning to connect profoundly with others and a desire for experiences that stir the soul before facing one’s final moments.”
Like a hymn, the emotion thickens as it deepens, approaching both darkness and divinity:
“Deep as I go, nothing to find
Oh catatonia, I won’t cry
Nothing can grow, everything dies
Behind my glassy eyes”
Additionally, KITE have released a Live at Dalhalla version of “Glassy Eyes” alongside a performance video. This raw and rousing live version of of the track was performed at Kite’s triumphant 2023 homecoming show at Dalhalla, the legendary limestone-quarry-turned-open-air-theater in Dalarna, Sweden. The venue’s dramatic acoustics heighten the song’s spatial elegance, further fusing its beauty and tragedy into a forlorn, forsaken eternity
How are you feeling about “Glassy Eyes”?
