Kings of Convenience
Kings of Convenience performing in 2016
Kings of Convenience performing in 2016
Background information
OriginBergen, Norway
GenresBossa nova, Indie pop, indie folk[1]
Years active1999–present
LabelsEMI, Astralwerks, Kindercore
Members
Websitekingsofconvenience.eu

Kings of Convenience is an indie folk-pop duo from Bergen, Norway, consisting of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe.

History

Øye and Bøe were both born in 1975 (Øye on 21 November and Bøe on 25 October) 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.[2] 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. Kings of Convenience also inspired an indian music duo Parekh & Singh.[3][4]

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 performing in Bangkok in 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.[5] 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 20 October 2009.

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

In 2017, Eirik released an album entitled 'Analog Dance Music' with his other band Kommode.

In March 2019, Kings of Convenience provided an update regarding their upcoming (fourth) album, stating that "the songs were written and even performed live, but when we tried to record it during 2016/2017 for a mixture of reasons the results just weren’t good enough[, and] by that time I (Erlend) didn’t have anymore energy to pour into it[, ... so] 2018 was a charging battery year, and now we are planning to try again".[6]

On 30 April 2021, Kings of Convenience released a new song, "Rocky Trail", after 12 years without publishing music as the duo. They also announced, through their official social network channels, that their fourth studio album, Peace or Love, is scheduled to be released on 18 June 2021 via EMI.[7] In connection with the album release, 28th of June 2021 a documentary about the duo was released for the first time, where they talk about the new album, and in general about the unity between them. It´s available on Youtube and is made by their good friend Stian Sævig, best known as the bass player in Kakkmaddafakka.

Discography

Albums

Year Album Peak chart positions
NOR
[8]		 UK
[9]		 ITA
[10]		 FRA
[11]		 SWE
[12]		 US
[13]		 US
Heat.
[14]		 US
Indie
[15]
2001 Quiet Is the New Loud 1 72 — 103 — — — —
Versus 30 135 — — — — — —
2004 Riot on an Empty Street
  • Second studio album
  • Released: 21 June 2004
 2 49 3 80 53 — — 41
2009 Declaration of Dependence
  • Third studio album
  • Released: 20 October 2009
 8 69 10 71 53 112 3 —
2021 Peace or Love
  • Fourth studio album
  • Released: 18 June 2021
 4
[16]		 26 60
[17]		 — — — — —

EPs

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

Singles

Year Single Charts Album
UK
[18]
1999 "Brave New World" —
"Failure" — Quiet Is the New Loud
"Toxic Girl" —
2001 "Failure" (re-release) 63
"Toxic Girl" (re-release) 44
"Winning a Battle, Losing the War" 78
2004 "Misread" 83 Riot on an Empty Street
"I'd Rather Dance with You" 60
2005 "Know How" (feat. Feist) 86
2009 "Mrs. Cold" — Declaration of Dependence
"Boat Behind" —
2021 "Rocky Trail" — Peace or Love
"Fever" —

Music videos

Collaborations

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

References

  1. ↑ Shanley, Kirstie (15 June 2010). "Kings of Convenience: 10 June 2010 - Chicago". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "Art by Ron English, 2012 Live at KCRW on Morning Becomes Eclectic 05.18.05". Kcrw.com. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  3. ↑ "WATCH: Parekh & Singh's Vibrant Music Video For "Ghost"". KXT 91.7 | Independent Music Radio for North Texas. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  4. ↑ "Review: Parekh & Singh – Science City". Classic Pop Magazine -. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  5. ↑ (in Spanish) Cantautor noruego Erlend Øye vuelve a Chile para actuar con Javiera Mena El Mercurio online, 15 December 2009, retrieved 31 January 2014
  6. ↑ "A lot of people are wondering about the new Kings of Convenience album". Facebook. 3 March 2019. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  7. ↑ Yoo, Noah (30 April 2021). "Kings of Convenience Announce First New Album in 12 Years, Peace or Love: Listen to New Song "Rocky Trail"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "Discography – Norway (Kings of Convenience in Norwegian Charts)". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  9. ↑ "Kings of Convenience | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  10. ↑ "Kings of Convenience Album Chart Positions – Italy". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  11. ↑ "Discographie Kings of Convenience (Kings of Convenience dans les charts francais)". lescharts.com. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  12. ↑ "Swedish Charts".
  13. ↑ "Kings of Convenience Chart History (The Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  14. ↑ "Kings of Convenience Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  15. ↑ "Kings of Convenience Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  16. ↑ "VG-lista – Topp 40 Album uke 25, 2021". VG-lista. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  17. ↑ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 25 (dal 18.6.2021 al 24.6.2021)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  18. ↑ "KINGS OF CONVENIENCE | Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  19. ↑ Kings of Convenience – Failure on YouTube
  20. ↑ Kings of Convenience – Toxic Girl on YouTube
  21. ↑ Kings of Convenience – Misread on YouTube
  22. ↑ Kings of Convenience – I'd Rather Dance with You on YouTube
  23. ↑ Kings of Convenience – Cayman Islands on YouTube
  24. ↑ Kings of Convenience – Mrs. Cold on YouTube
  25. ↑ Kings of Convenience – Boat Behind on YouTube
  26. ↑ Kings of Convenience – Me in You on YouTube
  27. ↑ Kings of Convenience – Rocky Trail on YouTube
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