Kings of Convenience

Formed in Bergen, Kings of Convenience brings together Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe, two Norwegian musicians who have played together since their teens and had previously shared a first band, Skog. Their songwriting falls within an indie-folk and acoustic pop vein built on understated guitars, tightly woven vocal harmonies and light arrangements, with a marked taste for calm melodies and restrained tempos. After gaining notice on the European festival scene in the late 1990s, Kings of Convenience released the album Quiet Is the New Loud in 2001, followed the same year by Versus, a remix record of that repertoire. The duo continued with Riot on an Empty Street in 2004, which notably features Feist, and then Declaration of Dependence in 2009. Between these releases, Kings of Convenience's activity remained intermittent, while Erlend Øye developed parallel projects such as The Whitest Boy Alive and Eirik Glambek Bøe also played with Kommode. After a long recording hiatus, Kings of Convenience returned in 2021 with Peace or Love, extending a precise, intimate and very pared-down acoustic aesthetic at the crossroads of folk, chamber pop and indie pop.