Kings of Convenience

Infobox musical artist
Name = Kings of Convenience


Img_capt = Kings of Convenience on the cover of their album "Quiet Is the New Loud". Øye is on the left, while Bøe is hugging his girlfriend Ina Grung.
Background = group_or_band
Years_active = 1999–present
Origin = Bergen, Norway
Genre = Indie pop Indie folk Indie electronic
Label = EMI/Astralwerks/Kindercore
Current_members = Erlend Øye Eirik Glambek Bøe
Past_members =
URL = [http://www.kingsofconvenience.com/ www.kingsofconvenience.com]

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 intricately subtle guitar melodieswho. Both Øye and Bøe sing in their tracks, and both of them compose.

History

Erlend and Eirik were both born in 1975 (Erlend on November 21 and Eirik on October 25), and have known each other since the age of 10. 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 twosome were 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 Belle & Sebastian and Simon and 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 has a side project named The Whitest Boy Alive

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 "Riot on an Empty Street", topped MTV's European list as the best music video of 2004. The album also featured contributions by Leslie Feist.

The band had a period of inactivity, which led to speculations that they had stopped working together. But the duo recently played a one-off concert in Mexico City on March 7th, 2007. There was also a concert scheduled for March 6th, but it had to be cancelled, because Erlend had a problem with "Montezuma's Revenge" and was not feeling well. They played two concerts on March 7 and announced they were going to start work on their new album in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Most recently, in 2008 the band played concerts in the Northern Norwegian cities of Tromsø on January 21, Svolvær on January 25, Bodø on January 27 and Umeå, Sweden on January 29 along with a concert in August in Stockholm.

Discography

Albums

* "Riot on an Empty Street" (CD) - Astralwerks - (2004)
* "Versus" (CD) - Astralwerks - (2001)
* "Quiet Is the New Loud" (CD & LP) - Astralwerks - (2001)
* "Kings of Convenience" (CD) - Kindercore - (2000)

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)

Singles

* "Know-How," (2005)
* "I'd Rather Dance with You" (2004)
* "Misread" (2004)
* "Winning a Battle, Losing the War" (2001)
* "Toxic Girl" (2001)
* "Failure" (2001)
* "Toxic Girl" (1999)
* "Failure" (1999)
* "Brave New World" (1999)

Collaborations

* Cornelius - "Drop (The Tusen Takk Rework)" (2002)
* Feist - "Know-How" and "The Build Up" ("Riot on an Empty Street") and in "Cayman Islands" from the "Know-How" single (2004)
* Cornelius - Omstart (2006)

External links

* [http://www.kingsofconvenience.com/ Kings of Convenience Official Site]
* [http://www.erlendoye.com/ Erlend Øye official site]