Kaizers Orchestra Release Single for 'This Is The Kaizer Family'

Norwegian sextet, Kaizers Orchestra, release a new single “This Is The Kaizer Family” today. Hear it HERE. A video for the song will drop in tandem with their show Tuesday, October 15 at the El Rey in Los Angeles. 

The eclectic musical catalog of the Norwegian alternative rock band Kaizers Orchestra is typically sung in their native language, Norwegian. However, you might occasionally come across a German, French, Italian, or English word sprinkled throughout their songs. Their newest single is a perfect example of this, featuring lyrics that embrace and reference their fictional characters from a multiverse spanning 25 years of music. The song also includes a nod to their remarkably dedicated fans, and much like Hitchcock, they make an appearance themselves within the narrative. The title says it all: This Is The Kaizer Family.

This standalone single is not part of any album and was recorded at Ocean Sound Studio, one of the most beautiful and renowned studios located in the heart of the Norwegian Alps near Ålesund. As always, the band recorded the track live in the studio, with mixing handled by Bjarne Stensli, known for his work with the legendary Norwegian pop sensation A-ha.

It’s impossible to classify Kaizers Orchestra's music into a single genre. Their sound has always been a hybrid—a unique, often unexpected, but surprisingly catchy combination of styles, genres, instrumentation, and arrangements. They draw inspiration from similarly distinctive artists and bands like Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age, Jack White, Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Gorillaz, while also borrowing elements from theater, musicals, film, and opera. This fusion results in a spectacular and unforgettable experience, both on record and on stage.

Kaizers Orchestra is renowned for being one of the best and most unique live acts in Norway and much of Europe. They launched their first US tour on October 2 at The Sinclair in Boston, continued onto New York City where they performed at Sony Hall. Prior to the show they performed at WNYC's The Greene Space and spoke with Soundcheck's John Schaefer who declared that Kaizers' "Belgravelspolka" is his favorite music video. Listen to their conversation with John and watch their performance HERE. After NYC, the band continued to Washington DC and will finish with shows in Minneapolis at The Fine Line on 10/13 and Los Angeles at El Rey Theatre on 10/15, more info HERE.

While this is their first US tour, the band earned a cult following here, thanks in part to a single US show, a one-and-done 2013 performance at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was covered as a high-profile debut by The New York Times

who wrote, “in musical terms Kaizers Orchestra is a band of polyglots. Arching melodic hooks are plentiful, as are arrestingly archaic rhythms: many of its songs are built around figures with accented weak beats of the kind that crop up in Kurt Weill’s early cabaret scores and in some Balkan dance forms…Its sound palette brings together competing worlds, too. Against a crunchy wall of guitar timbre…Perhaps the group’s sound and theatricality are infectious enough to render the language barrier irrelevant."

Kaizers Orchestra formed in 2000 and the band members are: Janove Ottesen, lead vocals, guitars, percussion; Geir Zahl, guitars, vocals, backing vocals, oil barrel; Terje Winterstø Røthing, guitars, backing vocals, oil barrel; Helge Risa, organ, piano, accordion, backing vocals; Rune Solheim, drums, percussion; and Øyvind Storesund, double bass, bass guitar. 

Kaizers Orchestra will launch Kaizer’s Orchestrated Chaos Roblox Game on Friday, November 1, 2024. The Kaizer Universe game will include a concert to be experienced in a full fledged game domain, inviting a whole new audience into their absurd and dark musical metaverse.  The Kaizer Universe game will include a concert to be experienced in a full fledged game domain, inviting a whole new audience into their absurd and dark musical metaverse.  

They are also working on a musical structured around its iconic album trilogy—its first project in English; and Kaizers Orchestra is excited to announce all of their albums have recently been re-released and remastered on vinyl. In addition, the band has hinted at releasing some new tracks and possibly a full album down the line.

And let’s not forget—Tom Waits himself listed Kaizers Orchestra's debut album, Ompa Til Du Dør, on his personal top ten list of favorite albums of all time. Not bad at all.

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