THE DREDGE – new single released
- Posted on 29-04-2026
Animal”is the first single from The Dredge’s upcoming album Down the Beach(June2026).
Two years after their debut album Torches, The Dredgeis back with a fresh extension to their already considerable artistic paletteand continues to expand their mosaic of influences with even more weirdness. The song asks: “Are you mouldy or are you grain?” The song, as well as the upcoming album, implies that it’s no problem to be both at the same time. While “Animal”starts off as a straight rocker, it quickly moulds its way into uncharted territories, sometimes jazz, sometimes Beefheart. The fact that a few excellent and polyfaceted musicians get to let their artistic hair down in whatever way they want in the wonderful project that is The Dredgeis maybe best illustrated by the nonchalantly thrown-in reed and mallet layers here and there, a hint of aggressive strings at the end. Overall The Dredge works with contrast: The contrast between the dry and rusty guitars, the insistent drums and vocals, the midway injection of a smooth but groovy jazz-inflicted, mallet-laden layers crowned by a soaring saxophone-solo by Kjetil Møster makes “Animal” into a strange beast, perhaps from the third domain: “Animal”feels like a wholesome and actually healthy fungus behind the sink putting on its Sunday suit and lighting up your world in luminous brown tones, and everyone ends up feeling better for it. This is groovy rock with asophisticated shine, often jazzy, sometimes even classical.
The fact that the duo (Kjetil Vikene and Frode Røsjø) does not make a big fuzz about the richness of the music makes this release such a joy to discover.The Dredge embracesthe casual easy listener as effortlessly as the weathered weird music nerd. Each track of the upcoming album is an invitation for discovery, without ever forcing the duo’s omnipresent creativity down their listeners’ throats.
“Animal” is but the first taste –so wet your lips and get ready for the rest!
BIO: The Dredge from Bergen is : Kjetil Vikene (vocals, guitars, bass, keys, misc.) and Frode Røsjø (drums, vocals, misc.) “More than adecade ago, a common friend handed me a rare copy of an EP from a completely unknown Norwegian band (named Halt Karl). My friend was betting–correctly –that I hadn’t the slightest inkling of what my black metal buddy Frode Røsjø (of Helheim fame) was doing a regard to clandestine, non-metallic activities. The music being a vehicle for Kjetil Vikene’s creative lyrical output, combined withthe band’s musical conglomerates(to put it mildly), I revelled in the feeling of havingdiscoveredNorway’s best kept secret!
Fast foward to 2024: After a long haitus, the project’s protagonists announced they’d return under the new moniker The Dredge with a brand-new album in tow. My delight was instant, and their first full length album Torches ( Apollon Records) didn’t disappoint. It picked up right where their previous iteration had left off, with renewed vigor and ambition.One reviewer named their debut“groovy melancholia”, and that is an apt description because it points to the contrasting the best of two worlds: Challenging, vigorous music and lyrical depth-perception.Mind you, the word “contrast” is not enough, as the bands music carries its fundamental stylistic uncategorizability onits back like a yoke. It won’t fit into any record-storecategory just like that, andtriggers an automatic “yes, but also…”the moment you try to attach the musicto things you’ve heard before.One reviewer described howt he album“containsamultitude of interesting flavors, textures, and surprises”. Another how his “mind goes into overdrive as it starts searching for references. And that’s perhaps because I can’t remember hearing anything that sounds exactly like The Dredge”. Now, after 30 years of collaborating, The Dredge is expanding their battleground yet again with their upcoming album Down the Beach. Their new album adds several exclamation marks to the “yes, but also”-statement, with fresh extensions to their already considerable artistic palette. What was an alt.pop/post-rock monster is nowjoinedat the hip by a jazzy beast, with a herdofalternative rhythmic equus dragging the machinery. The Dredge is perfect example of art conceived with complete creative freedom, while still being grooooovy.
The Dredge is perfect example of art conceived with complete creative freedom, while still being grooooovy.”-MoreanComposer, Performer, FanMarch 2026, Schiedam, The Netherlands
Performers:Kjetil Vikene: Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keys, misc.
Frode Røsjø: Drums,Backing vocals,misc.
+ guest Kjetil Møster: Saxophon
Produced by Iver Sandøy & The Dredge