I’m going to say this once: if you’ve never heard “Internal Affairs”, the 2012 debut from The Night Flight Orchestra, you are living with a gaping hole in your musical education. That’s not hyperbole, it’s malpractice.

This is what happens when you take Kiss, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Bee Gees, Boston, Deep Purple, Steely Dan, Led Zeppelin, and Journey… lock them in a Swedish cabin with good wine, bad decisions, and zero shame… and hit record.

TNFO is a supergroup in the truest sense:

Björn Strid (Soilwork) – vocals Sharlee D’Angelo (Arch Enemy) – bass David Andersson (Soilwork, RIP) – guitars Jonas Källsbäck (Meanstreak) – drums Richard Larsson (Von Benzo) – also drums, because one kit wasn’t enough

This isn’t “retro” for the sake of retro. It’s a straight-up time capsule from the golden age of rock, beamed forward to 2012 without losing a lick of swagger.

Siberian Queen

If “Immigrant Song” and “Achilles Last Stand” had a Scandinavian winter romance, this would be the love child. An icy Russian seductress melting your eardrums with every chorus.

California Morning

Boston-meets-Kiss guitars, a goodbye on a Pacific pier, the sun going down and you wishing you’d said something that mattered. Think “More Than a Feeling” with a hangover and a tear in your beer.

Glowing City Madness

Elton John melody? Check. An Asian dancer with a story to tell? Check. Music that makes you walk down the street like it’s your runway? Triple check.

West Ruth Ave

This should come with a government health warning. Disco-era Kiss rubbing shoulders with Foreigner and the Bee Gees, all capped by an outro on par with Derek and the Dominos’ “Layla”. This should have been a global hit. It still could, TikTok, do your thing.

Transatlantic Blues

Starts as Styx, crashes into Deep Purple, is inspired by the riff from Kiss’ “War Machine”, and somewhere along the way you question every life choice that got you here. The sound of a soul-searching road trip that ends in a nowhere-town bar, drunk and blasting Kansas.

Miami 5:02

Ever woken up in Florida wearing nothing but sunglasses? This is that. Van Halen and Deep Purple in a sweaty handshake.

Internal Affairs

What happens when “Play That Funky Music” buys “Superstition” a drink. The groove is so deep you could get lost in it and never come back.

1998

Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page” meets “Night Moves”, with a dash of Michael Stanley Band. Highways at 3 a.m., cigarette smoke curling in the dash light, someone you love fading in the rearview.

Stella Ain’t No Dove

The soundtrack to bad decisions. You’ll know if it’s about you.

Montreal Midnight Supply

Deep Purple, 38 Special, and “Detroit Rock City” get into a late-night brawl. The chorus is pure Y&T “Midnight in Tokyo” swagger.

Green Hills of Glumslöv

Björn’s hometown, painted in rock and cinematic nostalgia. The Warriors heading home to Joe Walsh’s “In the City”, with a little Queen in the DNA.

American High (Bonus Track)

The cherry on top of the classic rock sundae.

“Internal Affairs” isn’t just a debut. It’s proof that the ’70s never died—they just moved to Sweden and learned a few new tricks.

It wasn’t just a one-off nostalgia trip either, it was the ignition point. The kind of debut that plants a flag and says, “Yeah, we can do this, and we’re going to keep doing it.”

It proved that The Night Flight Orchestra wasn’t a vanity project or a bored-musician side hustle. It was its own living, breathing band. That first album gave them the runway to take off, each release after it tightening their sound, expanding their palette, and doubling down on the “classic rock through a Swedish prism” aesthetic. They went from a cult curiosity to a festival mainstay, with fans who know every lyric and new converts walking away from shows wondering how the hell they missed them for so long.

Fast forward 13 years and they’re still at it, touring, writing, and headbanging like the clock never moved.

And the wild part?

They’ve done it while still slinging riffs in their “day jobs”, Björn still screaming his lungs out with Soilwork, Sharlee still thundering bass with Arch Enemy, the rest juggling sessions, side projects, and whatever rock ’n’ roll chaos life throws at them. Most bands can’t survive that kind of split focus. TNFO thrives on it. They carry the energy from their heavier worlds into the cockpit of this band, and somehow it keeps the engines running at full burn. This isn’t a nostalgia act, it’s a living reminder that rock isn’t dead, it’s just wearing better cologne and a sharper suit.

If you haven’t heard it yet, stop reading and go fix that. And play it loud. Always loud.