Tender Ender returns with "Darkness," a new single accompanied by a self-directed music video

Tender Ender returns with "Darkness," a new single accompanied by a self-directed music video, offering a first glimpse into his forthcoming second album, Red Kites, due November 13, 2026.

Built around the warm sound of a humble home organ and its charming built-in rhythm section, "Darkness" is a bittersweet duet that drifts between melancholy and hope. Featuring the rich baritone of Thomas Schmidiger alongside the breathy vocals of Sabine Ruch, the song evokes an intimate, living-room concert—timeless, understated and quietly uplifting.

Schmidiger describes the track as “a living-room-sized hymn,” where the home organ “rolls out the carpet for a soothing daydream of escape.” He explains that “Darkness” should be understood like dark chocolate: “bittersweet, velvety and uplifting,” inviting listeners into “a classy his-and-hers duet, singing of another time and another place.”

Directed by Schmidiger himself, the accompanying video finds beauty in the ordinary. Set against the backdrop of the annual wheat harvest, it captures swarms of red kites circling over the fields, turning an everyday rural scene into a quiet reflection on nature, industry and indifference.

For Schmidiger, the video was something waiting to be discovered rather than constructed. “It was basically ready-made,” he explains, referring to the yearly wheat harvest and the swarms of red kites gathering to claim their share of the aftermath. He saw in this encounter between industrial agriculture, wildlife and a seemingly indifferent landscape an image that “somehow summed it all up.” “I like boring things,” he adds. “They tend to open doors you didn’t even know existed.”

Less than a year after his acclaimed debut, Thomas Schmidiger continues to refine the singular sound of Tender Ender with Red Kites. Blending film-noir pop, ambient melancholy and piano balladry, the album pares his songwriting back to its essentials. Built around the home organ and enriched by harmonium, vibraphone, pedal steel and piano, the record embraces the idea of music made to be shared in the living room rather than passively consumed.

With its quiet confidence and emotional depth, Red Kites further establishes Tender Ender as a songwriter whose greatest strength lies in the power of restraint.

"Darkness" is available now and Red Kites will be released on November 13, 2026.

TRACKLISTING

01. Feed the Lie

02. Darkness

03. Woke Up with a Knife

04. On a Lidal Shrum

05. Loaves of Solace

06. Choice

07. Full of Hope

08. Getting Fine

09. Tonight We're Alive