Kaipa, the emblematic band of Swedish progressive rock, has been led by keyboardist and singer Hans Ludin since 1973. The Stockholm band, signed internationally by the Decca label, caused a sensation with its homonymous debut album, released in 1975 and now enjoying a cult following, not least because of the presence of seventeen-year-old guitar prodigy Roine Stolt, who would go on to become famous with The Flower Kings. In the meantime, Kaipa benefited from his services on the successful albums Inget nytt under solen (1976) and Solo (1978), before his departure in 1979. The band, which frequently changed musicians, continued with the albums Händer (1980) and Nattjurstid (1982), which testified to their musical turn towards new wave and pop-rock, but proved to be a dead end, leading to their split in 1982. In 1993, Ludin took sole control of the instrumental album Stockholm Symphonie, before recruiting new singers and musicians for his comeback in 2000 with Roine Stolt. This period of renaissance saw the release of the albums Notes from the Past (2002), Keyholder (2003) and Mindrevolutions (2005). A retrospective box set, The Decca Years 1975-1978 , was also released . After Stolt's second departure, Kaipa continued with the albums Angling Feelings (2007), In the Wake of Evolution (2010), Vittjar (2012), Sattyg (2014) and Children of the Sounds (2017). The live band has become a Swedish institution of neo-progressive rock, and continues to attract large audiences to its concerts, between studio albums Urskog (2022) and Sommargryningsljus (2024).
