Band Tante Gaida releases second album «Līdz nāve mūs šķirs»

The Latvian indie pop band Tante Gaida presented its second album, «Līdz nāve mūs šķirs» («Till Death Do Us Part»), at a concert in the Vagonu zāle venue on the evening of 24 October. The stage design was made of pinned-up pieces of laundry, evoking washing hung out in a courtyard, and the album title was also made from laundry pieces on the backdrop. The account reflects a reviewer's assessment of the release, and he names the group alongside the trio alejas, Keitija Bārbale and Antons Graudis' project Zvīņas as examples of positive trends in new Latvian pop.

The band and its line-up

Tante Gaida is a collective of young musicians who swap instruments and sing together or as soloists, with no one emerging as the leader. The line-up includes Dāvids Kalniņš, Elizabete Liepa, Rebeka Rēķe, Lote Voiska and drummer Kārlis Grīnbergs. Dāvids Kalniņš is the grandson of composer Imants Kalniņš and one of the band's songwriters and vocalists. By his own account, the group started as a cover band, and its own songs came later.

The band names the American indie folk group Big Thief as an inspiration. In summer 2025 it took part in creating the musical «Viņi dejoja vienu vasaru» («They Danced One Summer»), directed by Rēzija Kalniņa, by arranging songs by Imants Kalniņš.

The album

The new album was recorded in The Hague, where Kārlis Grīnbergs lives, using analogue tape and with everyone playing together to get a more natural sound. A vinyl release is planned, but copies were not yet ready for the launch concert. The opening act was Brukle, a young singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar, who later joined some of the songs on saxophone and flute. All the T-shirts prepared for the event sold out before the band went on stage.

The band writes its music remotely, as members live in different countries and meet only for recordings and concerts. The reviewer regards this model as an advantage, since in-person meetings remain an event to look forward to.

The reviewer previously wrote about the band's first album, «happenings isn’t endings», in the magazine Mūzikas Saule.