Kite announces debut full-length album, VII

Since making their debut in 2008, Swedish duo Kite has been steadily cranking out music and building a global fanbase on their way to becoming the best synthpop band in the world. Miraculously, they’ve never released a full-length studio album. That changes next month.

On August 9, Kite will release their debut full-length album, called VII.

There’s just one catch. We’ve already heard every song on VII. The album collects 14 tracks Kite has released over the last five years, including songs like “Hand Out the Drugs” and “Panic Music.” The only title I don’t immediately recognize is the final track, “Hum Hum.” EDIT: “Hum Hum” is the B-side on the “Demons & Shame” vinyl, but it’s not streaming anywhere online as far as I can tell.

The tracks will, however, be remastered, and the original full-length mixes will appear on vinyl for the first time. VII comes as a 2-record set in several color options, including transparent yellow and transparent blue.

Here’s what the press notes say about the album:

VII breaks the ice, collecting 14 of the duo’s deepest and most dynamic anthems into a stormy saga of immersive, apocalyptic emotion. Sourced from a series of seven 7-inch singles released over the past half-decade, the collection persuasively showcases Kite’s distinctly cinematic strain of Swedish darkwave in all its glory and desolation.

The title VII follows Kite’s formula of naming their releases in sequential order. Until now, they’ve released EPs that typically contain five songs. Kite’s most recent EP, called VI, arrived in 2015 and features the tracks “Up for Life” and “True Colours.”

Notably, VII contains a number of collaborations. In 2020, Kite worked with music producer Blanck Mass on a quartet of songs. Their most recent release, “Losing,” features contributions from Anna von Hausswolff and Henric de la Cour. All of those collabs appear on VII.

You can pre-order VII at Bandcamp and other outlets.