Orions Belte

Drawing on influences that stretch from dub and lo-fi psych to funk, Nigerian rock, and Italian cocktail jazz, the Bergen, Norway-based trio Orions Belte emerged from the local indie community as a largely instrumental rock outfit. Frequently likened to the Texan group Khruangbin, the band issued its first full-length effort, Mint, in 2018. Brief subsequent releases that featured reinterpretations of Ghostface Killah and Milton Nascimento preceded the arrival of the Spellemann-nominated Villa Amorini in 2021. By the close of 2022, three individual long-players—one from each member—had appeared under the group moniker. The following year saw the trio reconvene for the more nostalgic, strings-enhanced Women.

Guitarist Øyvind Blomstrøm, previously active with Bare Egil Band and El Cuero, first crossed paths with bassist Chris Holm, known from Young Dreams and Sondre Lerche, while both served in folk singer Ingebjørg Bratland’s touring ensemble. Their shared enthusiasm for instrumental music sparked collaborative work once they returned to Bergen, after which Holm brought in his former Young Dreams and Bloody Beach colleague Kim Åge Furuhaug on drums. An early composition titled “Alnitak” drew from the soundtrack of the 1985 cult film Orions Belte, prompting the band to adopt that title. Mint itself was tracked in just a few days during what had been planned as a rehearsal weekend, leading to a deal with Jansen Records and a live introduction at the 2018 Øyafestivalen ahead of the album’s September release.

The July 2019 EP Slim presented stylized versions of Ghostface Killah and Milton Nascimento tracks alongside an original piece. Mid-2020 brought the second EP, 600m per minute, whose title referenced a high-speed Tokyo elevator. After a succession of singles, Villa Amorini surfaced on Jansen in April 2021 and earned a Spellemann nomination in the Alternative Pop/Rock category the next February.

From November 2021 through November 2022, each member released a solo album under the Orions Belte name, beginning with Chris Holm; Øyvind Blomstrøm’s followed in April 2022, and Kim Åge Furuhaug completed the sequence, with all three collected in a Jansen Records box set that November. Furuhaug’s contribution took the form of a jazz project written and produced with Matias Tellez (girl in red, Sondre Lerche). Reuniting as a threesome, the band broadened its vintage psychedelic approach through string arrangements on the self-produced Women, a still more narcotic set issued by the same label in October 2023. That month they also toured the U.S., supporting Psychedelic Porn Crumpets on several dates while headlining additional shows.