Tender Ender shares ‘Darkness’ single ahead of new album ‘Red Kites’
Tender Ender, the solo project of Swiss artist Thomas Schmidiger, released the single “Darkness” with a video, previewing his album “Red Kites”.
Tender Ender, the solo project of Swiss artist Thomas Schmidiger, released the single “Darkness”, accompanied by a self-directed music video, ahead of his second album, “Red Kites”, due November 13, 2026. The single is also available to stream via iMusician.
Tender Ender’s ‘Darkness’ single and ‘Red Kites’ album
“Darkness” is built around a home organ and its built-in rhythm section, a duet pairing Schmidiger’s baritone with the breathy vocals of Sabine Ruch. Schmidiger describes the track as “a living-room-sized hymn,” where the home organ “rolls out the carpet for a soothing daydream of escape,” and compares its mood to dark chocolate: “bittersweet, velvety and uplifting.”
Schmidiger also directed the accompanying video, shot during the annual wheat harvest and the swarms of red kites that gather over the fields afterward. He explains the imagery came to him ready-made: “It was basically ready-made,” he says of the harvest and the birds, adding that the scene “somehow summed it all up.” “I like boring things,” he says. “They tend to open doors you didn’t even know existed.”
“Darkness” is the first single from “Red Kites”, out November 13, 2026 and available to preorder on Tender Ender’s site.
About Tender Ender
Tender Ender is the solo project of Swiss artist Thomas Schmidiger, blending film-noir pop, ambient melancholy and piano balladry built around a home organ, enriched with harmonium, vibraphone, pedal steel and piano. Less than a year after his debut album, Schmidiger returns with “Red Kites”, due November 13, 2026, led by the single “Darkness” featuring vocalist Sabine Ruch.
Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!
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