Kings of Convenience
Encyclopedia
Kings of Convenience are 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. Øye and Bøe both compose and sing the songs.
("forest") with two other friends, releasing one EP
, Tom Tids Tale
, before breaking up and later forming the Kings duo.
The duo 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 & 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 the album, topped MTV
's European list as the best music video of 2004. The album also featured contributions by Feist.
The band had a period of inactivity, which led to speculations that they had stopped working together. On March 7, 2007 however, the duo played a one-off concert in Mexico City. There was also a concert scheduled for March 6, but it had to be cancelled, because Øye 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. 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
.
Most recently, the band toured North America and Europe, including stops in Boston, New York, Toronto, Detroit; 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.
The third album, called Declaration of Dependence, was released on October 20, 2009.
Erlend Øye
Erlend Øye is a Norwegian musician from Bergen, best known for being part of the indie folk duo Kings of Convenience together with Eirik Glambek Bøe. He has released one solo album, Unrest, in 2003 and a mix-CD in the DJ-Kicks series in 2004....
and Eirik Glambek Bøe
Eirik Glambek Bøe
Eirik Glambek Bøe is a musician, writer and vocalist, best known for being part of the pop duo Kings of Convenience together with Erlend Øye. He has studied psychology at the University at Bergen. Although his native language is Norwegian, many of his writings are in English...
, the musical group is known for their delicate tunes, calming voices, and intricate and subtle guitar melodies. 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 while participating in a geography contest at the age of 10. At sixteen, they played together in the band SkogSkog
Skog was a rock band from Bergen, Norway which formed in the early 1990s and folded at the end of the same decade. The group consisted of Anders Waage Nilsen, Øystein Gjærder Bruvik, Eirik Glambek Bøe and Erlend Øye. The latter two later found success as the duo Kings of Convenience...
("forest") with two other friends, releasing one EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Tom Tids Tale
Tom Tids Tale
Tom Tids Tale is a 1996 album released by the group skog. Few copies were made. It is considered a collector's item. The album's tracks are freely available.-Track listing:# "Tom tids tale" – 02:50# "Blålysning" – 07:00# "Synsk" – 03:35...
, before breaking up and later forming the Kings duo.
The duo were signed to the American label Kindercore
Kindercore Records
Kindercore Records is an independent record label based in Athens, Georgia, which was founded in 1996 by Ryan Lewis and Daniel Geller to document the emerging music scene in Athens, Georgia....
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
Quiet Is the New Loud
-Track listing:# "Winning a Battle, Losing the War"# "Toxic Girl"# "Singing Softly to Me"# "I Don't Know What I Can Save You From"# "Failure"# "The Weight of My Words"# "The Girl From Back Then"# "Leaning Against the Wall"# "Little Kids"...
. The album was produced by Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
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
Steel-string acoustic guitar
A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
contemporaries such as Turin Brakes
Turin Brakes
Turin Brakes are a modern folk duo, comprising Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, hailing from Balham, London. They had a UK top 5 hit with their song "Painkiller ".-1999–2003:...
) which took Belle & Sebastian
Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Belle and Sebastian are often compared with influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian comes from Belle et Sébastien, a 1965...
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 has a side project named The Whitest Boy Alive
The Whitest Boy Alive
The Whitest Boy Alive is a German-Norwegian musical group based in Berlin. The band comprises singer/guitarist Erlend Øye of Kings of Convenience, bassist Marcin Öz, drummer Sebastian Maschat, and Daniel Nentwig on Rhodes piano and Crumar.- History :...
.
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
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's European list as the best music video of 2004. The album also featured contributions by Feist.
The band had a period of inactivity, which led to speculations that they had stopped working together. On March 7, 2007 however, the duo played a one-off concert in Mexico City. There was also a concert scheduled for March 6, but it had to be cancelled, because Øye 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
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican balneario resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas.The 2010 census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 255,725 making it the sixth-largest city in the state of Jalisco...
, Mexico. In January 2008 the band played concerts in the Northern Norwegian cities of Tromsø
Tromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
, Svolvær
Svolvær
-Communications:Parts of the town is built on small islands connected by bridges. There is a regional airport near the town, Svolvær Airport, Helle, and Svolvær is a port of call for Hurtigruten. There is a ferry connection Svolvær to Skutvik in Hamarøy, and express boat connections to Bodø...
and Bodø
Bodø
is a city and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten region.The city of Bodø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Bodin was merged with Bodø on 1 January 1968. Skjerstad was merged with Bodø on 1 January 2005...
, and Swedish city Umeå
Umeå
- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...
along with a concert in August in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
.
Most recently, the band toured North America and Europe, including stops in Boston, New York, Toronto, Detroit; 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.
The third album, called Declaration of Dependence, was released on October 20, 2009.
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak Chart Positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOR VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
ITA Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
FRA Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
SWE Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
U.S. Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
U.S. Heat. Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
U.S. Indie Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... |
||
| 2001 | Quiet Is the New Loud Quiet Is the New Loud -Track listing:# "Winning a Battle, Losing the War"# "Toxic Girl"# "Singing Softly to Me"# "I Don't Know What I Can Save You From"# "Failure"# "The Weight of My Words"# "The Girl From Back Then"# "Leaning Against the Wall"# "Little Kids"...
|
1 | 72 | — | 103 | — | — | — | — |
Versus
|
30 | 135 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2004 | Riot on an Empty Street
|
2 | 49 | 3 | 80 | 53 | — | — | 41 |
| 2009 | Declaration of Dependence
|
8 | 69 | 10 | 71 | 53 | 112 | 3 | — |
EPs
- Magic in the Air (Limited 3-track CD; includes cover of a-haA-haA-ha were a Norwegian pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket , Magne Furuholmen , and Pål Waaktaar...
's "Manhattan SkylineManhattan Skyline (song)"Manhattan Skyline" is a song by the Norwegian pop band A-ha. It was the third single from their Scoundrel Days album, and reached #13 in the UK Singles Chart.The song was co-written by keyboardist Magne Furuholmen and guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy...
") (2001) - Playing Live in a RoomPlaying Live in a RoomPlaying Live in a Room is an exclusive French release EP from Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience, issued between their first and second albums.-Track listing:# "Toxic Girl"# "Singing Softly To Me"# "Into The Ring Of Fire"# "Parr-A-Pluie"...
(5-track CD) – Virgin – (2000) - Kings of Convenience's Live Acoustic Sessions - Milan 2009 (4 track EP) (2010)
Singles
| Year | Single | Charts | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 1999 | "Brave New World" | — | |
| "Failure" | — | Quiet is the New Loud Quiet Is the New Loud -Track listing:# "Winning a Battle, Losing the War"# "Toxic Girl"# "Singing Softly to Me"# "I Don't Know What I Can Save You From"# "Failure"# "The Weight of My Words"# "The Girl From Back Then"# "Leaning Against the Wall"# "Little Kids"... |
|
| "Toxic Girl Toxic Girl "Toxic Girl" is a single by the Norwegian indie rock duo Kings of Convenience. It was released in three formats in the United Kingdom by Astralwerks.... " |
— | ||
| 2001 | "Failure" (re-release) | 63 | |
| "Toxic Girl" (re-release) | 44 | ||
| "Winning a Battle, Losing the War Winning a Battle, Losing the War "Winning a Battle, Losing the War" is the first song from the 2001 album Quiet is the New Loud by Kings of Convenience. It was released as a single May 8, 2001.... " |
82 | ||
| 2004 | "Misread" | 83 | Riot on an Empty Street |
| "I'd Rather Dance with You I'd Rather Dance with You "I'd Rather Dance with You" is the eighth song from the album Riot on an Empty Street by Kings of Convenience. It was released as a single on November 2, 2004.-Music video:... " |
60 | ||
| 2005 | "Know How" (feat. Feist) | 86 | |
| 2009 | "Mrs. Cold" | — | Declaration of Dependence |
| "Boat Behind" | — |
Collaborations
- CorneliusCornelius (musician)Cornelius is a Japanese recording artist and producer.-Career:Oyamada's first claim to fame was as a member of the pop duo Flipper's Guitar, one of the key groups of the Tokyo Shibuya-kei scene...
– "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 MarkieBiz MarkieMarcel Theo Hall better known by his stage name, Biz Markie, is an American rapper, beatboxer, DJ, comedian, singer, reality television personality, and commercial spokesperson. He is best known for his single "Just a Friend", an American Top 10 hit in 1989...
- "Clowns and Kings" Split Tour EP (2004)