Swedish prog sextet Kaipa have announced the release of a brand new album Urskog via InsideOut Music on April 29.

The new album, the band’s 14th, is inspired by keyboardist Hans Ludin’s solitary bike rides in the countryside and represents a journey through Swedish nature and the changing seasons.

“Most of the songs were written in 2018,” he explains. “At the time I was working on the 6 CD set Hans Lundin: The Solo Years 1982-1989and revisiting my old solo albums has informed my songwriting process for Urskog. Listening to these old compositions has influenced my new compositions in general; there have also been a few instances where I’ve taken a nice chord structure or melodic fragment from an old song and turned it into something entirely new. I also sampled some 80s sounds that can be heard on the new album.”

The new album also sees the arrival of brand new drummer Darby Todd. Todd, who has worked with Martin Barre, Hot Leg, Robert Plant, Robben Ford, Carl Verheyen and many others, replaces Morgan Ågren, who had been with the band since their reunion in 2000.

“When it came time to start tracking drums, Morgan was not available in a reasonable amount of time, so at Morgan’s own suggestion we decided to part ways amicably,” explains guitarist Per Nilsson. “Morgan’s fantastic and imaginative drumming has graced Kaipa’s music for nearly two decades and eight albums, but for what it’s worth, we thought this could be an opportunity to bring new grooves and sounds to Kaipa While Hans had some of the ideas for the drummer job, I only had one person in mind, someone whose creativity and chops rival Morgan’s but with a more punchy rock edge, and seeing a few videos of this guy bashing skins, Hans was also convinced.”

Urskog will be available as a limited digipak CD, gatefold 180g 2LP+CD and as a digital album.

Pre-order Urskog.

Kaipa: Urskog
1. The Frozen Dead of Night
2. In a world of pines
3. Ourskog
4. Nature trip
5. In the Wasteland of My Mind
6. The bitter setting sun