Airbag

From a Norwegian classroom to the European circuit

Airbag’s story starts in mid‑2000s Oslo, when five schoolmates, among them singer‑lyricist Asle Tostrup and guitarist‑producer Bjørn Riis, began releasing home‑made EPs online. Those early recordings – shared freely and downloaded in large numbers – brought them to Karisma Records in 2008 and set up a debut album, Identity, the following year. The band’s in‑house visual identity, designed by Tostrup, and a patient songwriting style rooted in mood and dynamics rather than flash made them stand out on a busy Scandinavian prog scene. By 2012 they were opening for Marillion and finding their way onto European club stages; over the next decade, Airbag would quietly establish themselves as a steady touring presence, including regular invitations to the Cruise to the Edge festival-at-sea out of the US.

The work that matters

Identity (2009) gathered and refined their early material, with long‑form pieces like Homesick I–III sketching out the band’s signature: spacious keys, unhurried tempos and Riis’s melodic, deeply sustained guitar tone. All Rights Removed (2011) and The Greatest Show on Earth (2013) tightened the writing and broadened the dynamics, and 2016’s Disconnected turned darker in tone and subject matter. The fifth album, A Day at the Beach (2020), folded in 1980s‑leaning synth colours without losing their drift‑and‑surge feel.

The Century of the Self arrived on 14 June 2024 via Karisma. Across five tracks and roughly 47 minutes, it bends the palette again: opener Dysphoria is spare and slow‑building; Tyrants and Kings pushes into a heavier register; and Tear It Down closes with a post‑rock swell. British press heard a subtle sideways shift – more space in the mix, sharper edges – while keeping Tostrup’s voice and Riis’s guitar at the core. In an interview published 27 August 2024, Riis framed the record as a response to the tenor of public debate; the songs touch on speech, division and who controls narratives, without sacrificing musical economy.

A live document that fills the picture

On 21 November 2025 the band issued Dysphoria (Live in the Netherlands), recorded at Poppodium Boerderij in Zoetermeer the year before. It’s their first official, fully plugged‑in concert release and, as Louder’s January 2026 review noted, it plays The Century of the Self front‑to‑back before a second set of catalogue pieces. Coverage from Nordic and Dutch outlets the week of release emphasised the clarity of the mix and how the newer songs gain intensity live – Erase in particular landing with more contrast than on record. The album is also a marker of where the group stands two decades in: a studio band first, but one whose material is engineered to open out on stage.

2026: clubs, cruises and autumn plans

Airbag’s 2026 began at sea: they played Cruise to the Edge in early March out of Miami. Setlist documentation for 6 March shows a concise 50‑minute pool‑deck slot – Machines and Men, Redemption, Killer, Erase and Homesick I–III – that skimmed their career rather than pushing only the 2024 album. Back on land, they picked up spring European club shows, including a 24 May date at 013 Tilburg in the Netherlands following a Nancy date at Chez Paulette the previous night.

The band now turn to autumn. As of 6 September 2026, a short UK run is on sale – Manchester Club Academy on Thursday 22 October, O2 Academy 2 Birmingham on Friday 23 October and The Underworld in Camden on Saturday 24 October – with Polish dates to follow: Warsaw’s Terminal Kultury Gocław (Thursday 5 November), Wrocław’s Zaklęte Rewiry (Friday 6 November) and Kraków’s Hype Park (Saturday 7 November). The official site lists ticket links for each, with the Manchester show advertising £25 plus fees and a 19:30 doors time. It’s a compact routing that suits their audience: intimate rooms where detail matters.

How they play it now

Recent reviews paint a consistent picture of the present‑day Airbag show. In Paris on 6 December 2025 they were on for around an hour and 35 minutes in a 400‑cap room, starting with the slow‑blooming Dysphoria and landing early with Redemption; the write‑up praised Tostrup’s control and Riis’s measured phrasing. In France and the Low Countries this May, Dutch art‑rockers Lesoir opened multiple nights; accounts from Nancy (23 May 2026) and Tilburg (24 May 2026) note a room of roughly 500 for the latter and a set shaped as a survey rather than a single‑album push – Machines and Men, Megalomaniac, Broken and Colours surfacing alongside newer material.

The visuals are understated but thought‑through: deep reds, blues and purples, abstract films and smoke‑like imagery filling a back‑wall screen, words occasionally syncing with the lyrics through The Century of the Self material. The playing is largely static; there’s little showmanship beyond the sound itself. The spring run featured Tostrup (vocals, guitar, occasional keys), Riis (guitars, vocals) and Henrik Bergan Fossum (drums) with guests on bass and keyboards (Tilburg listed Simen Valldal Johannessen on keys and Arild Brøter covering bass at short notice). Festival slots are briefer and tighter; club nights expand to ninety minutes or more, with long arcs, gradual builds and a finish that often returns to early‑catalogue cornerstones. If Cruise to the Edge threads brought them fresh ears in March, European club reviews suggest word‑of‑mouth is doing the rest.