Tender Ender Shares ‘Darkness’, First Single From Upcoming Album ‘Red Kites’
Swiss songwriter Thomas Schmidiger has shared ‘Darkness’, the first single from the forthcoming second Tender Ender album, ‘Red Kites’, due on 13 November 2026.
Built around the warm, slightly worn character of a home organ and its built-in rhythm machine, ‘Darkness’ is a bittersweet duet between Schmidiger and Sabine Ruch. Their contrasting voices give the song an intimate, almost domestic quality, with melancholy running through it without ever becoming heavy-handed.
Schmidiger also directed the accompanying video, filmed around the annual wheat harvest. Red kites circle above the fields as machinery works below, giving the song’s quiet mood an unexpectedly striking visual setting.
‘Red Kites’ follows Tender Ender’s debut album by less than a year and finds Schmidiger stripping the arrangements back even further. Home organ remains at the centre of the record, joined by harmonium, vibraphone, pedal steel and piano, with the songs moving between film-noir pop, ambient textures and understated balladry.
‘Darkness’ is out now digitally. ‘Red Kites’ will be released on 13 November 2026.
Pre-order ‘Red Kites’ here!
Headline credit: Thomas Schmidiger
Tender Ender Website / Instagram / Bandcamp
A Tree In A Field Records Website / Instagram / Bandcamp
