Kings of Convenience

Kings of Convenience is an indie folk-pop duo from Bergen, Norway. Consisting of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe, the musical group is known for their delicate tunes, calming voices, and intricate and subtle guitar melodies. One can also hear some Bossa Nova influence. Øye and Bøe both compose and sing the songs.

History

Øye and Bøe were both born in 1975 (Øye on November 21 and Bøe on October 25) and have known each other since they met in the same class at school. Their first musical collaboration was a comedic rap about a teacher.^[1] At sixteen, they played together in the band Skog ("forest") with two other friends, releasing one EP, Tom Tids Tale, before breaking up and later forming the Kings duo.

The duo was signed to the American label Kindercore after appearing in European festivals during the summer of 1999. After a spell living in London in 2001, they released their debut album Quiet Is the New Loud. The album was produced by Coldplay producer Ken Nelson. The album was very successful and even lent its name to a small movement of musicians in the pop underground (including acoustic contemporaries such as Turin Brakes) which took Elliott Smith, Belle & Sebastian and Simon & Garfunkel as their inspiration and focused on more subtle melodies and messages.

Versus, an album of remixes of tracks from Quiet Is the New Loud, came out shortly after. After this breakthrough year, not much was heard from the band. Øye spent the next few years living in Berlin and doing solo material, releasing music under the DJ Kicks series as well as a solo album titled Unrest. He also had a side project named The Whitest Boy Alive.

Kings of Convenience live in Bangkok, 2010

It was not until 2004 that the Kings' follow-up Riot on an Empty Street was released. The video made for "I'd Rather Dance With You," the second single from the album, topped MTV's European list as the best music video of 2004. The album also featured contributions by Feist.

In January 2008 the band played concerts in the Northern Norwegian cities of Tromsø, Svolvær and Bodø, and Swedish city Umeå along with a concert in August in Stockholm. The band then toured North America, Latin America and Europe, including stops in Boston, New York, Toronto, Detroit; Latin American stops in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Brazil and Chile, where they performed in Santiago with local musician Javiera Mena, who later opened for them in Spain and Portugal.^[2] European stops include Italy, Switzerland and Spain. On some of their American tour stops they appeared with the band Franklin for Short who joined them on stage for a few rousing numbers.

Their third album, called Declaration of Dependence, was released on October 20, 2009.^[3]

In June 2012, the band performed at the Primavera Sound festivals in both Barcelona and Porto.

In July 2016, the band announced they had enough raw material for a fourth album which they will begin recording in the fall.^[4]

Discography

Albums

EPs

• Magic in the Air (Limited 3-track CD; includes cover of a-ha's "Manhattan Skyline") (2001)
• Playing Live in a Room (5-track CD) – Virgin – (2000)
• Kings of Convenience's Live Acoustic Sessions - Milan 2009 (4 track EP) (2010)

Singles

Collaborations

• Cornelius – "Drop (The Tusen Takk Rework)" (2002) and "Omstart" (2006)
• Feist – "Know-How" and "The Build Up" (Riot on an Empty Street) and in "Cayman Islands" from the "Know-How" single (2004)
• Biz Markie - "Clowns and Kings" Split Tour EP (2004)

References

External links

• Kings of Convenience official site