Orions Belte

Drawing on a wide spectrum of influences, among them dub, lo-fi psych, funk, Nigerian rock, and Italian cocktail jazz, Orions Belte is a quasi-instrumental rock trio made up of members of the Bergen, Norway indie scene. Offering Texan group Khruangbin as a touchpoint, they presented their debut album, Mint, in 2018. Short-form releases that included covers of Ghostface Killah and Milton Nascimento followed before they returned with the Spellemann-nominated full-length Villa Amorini in 2021. A trio of solo LPs, one by each member, appeared under the band’s name by the end of 2022. A year later, they returned in trio form with the more nostalgic, strings-enhanced Women.
Guitarist Øyvind Blomstrøm (Bare Egil Band, El Cuero) and bassist Chris Holm (Young Dreams, Sondre Lerche) first met as members of folk singer Ingebjørg Bratland’s touring band. They quickly bonded over their love of instrumental music and began working on some of their own once back in Bergen. Holm recruited his onetime Young Dreams and Bloody Beach bandmate Kim Åge Furuhaug to play drums for the project. One of their early songs, “Alnitak,” was inspired by the soundtrack of the 1985 cult film Orions Belte, which they decided to keep as their name. The trio’s first album, Mint, was completed in just a few days during what was supposed to be a weekend of rehearsals. It got them signed to Jansen Records, and they made their live debut at the 2018 Øyafestivalen, with Mint’s release following that September.
The band’s July 2019 EP, Slim, included stylized takes on Ghostface Killah and Milton Nascimento alongside an original track. With a title inspired by a speedy elevator in Tokyo, their second EP, 600m per minute, arrived in mid-2020. Following a steady stream of singles, Orions Belte’s second long-player, Villa Amorini, appeared on Jansen in April 2021. It was nominated for a Spellemann award in the Alternative Pop/Rock category the following February.
Between November 2021 and November 2022, each member of the group put out a solo album under the Orions Belte banner, beginning with Chris Holm. The Øyvind Blomstrøm LP followed in April 2022, with Kim Åge Furuhaug closing out the series — all three were released as a box set by Jansen Records in November 2022. The final album was essentially a jazz release written and produced with Matias Tellez (girl in red, Sondre Lerche). Working again as a threesome, the band expanded their vintage, psychedelic sound with string arrangements on the even more narcotic, self-produced Women, which arrived on the same label in October 2023. That month found them in the U.S. with a handful of support slots for Psychedelic Porn Crumpets alongside a headlining tour. ~ Marcy Donelson