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Kings of Convenience

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Kings of Convenience
Kings of Convenience performing in 2016
Kings of Convenience performing in 2016
Background information
OriginBergen, Norway
GenresIndie folk[1]
Years active1999–2018, 2021–present
LabelsEMI, Astralwerks, Kindercore
SpinoffsThe Whitest Boy Alive, Kommode
Spinoff ofSkog
Members
Websitekingsofconvenience.eu

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

History

[edit]

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, was released on 18 June 2021 via EMI.[7]

Discography

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Albums

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Studio albums

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List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
NOR
[8] 		FRA
[9] 		GER
[10] 		ITA
[11] 		NLD
[12] 		POR
[13] 		SCO
[14] 		SWE
[15] 		UK
[14] 		US
[16]
Quiet Is the New Loud
  • Released: 6 March 2001
  • Label: Astralwerks
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
 1 103 — — — — 95 — 72 —
Riot on an Empty Street
  • Released: 21 June 2004
  • Label: Astralwerks
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
 2 80 61 3 91 18 50 53 49 —
Declaration of Dependence
  • Released: 20 October 2009
  • Label: EMI, Virgin
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
 8 71 32 10 57 22 77 53 69 112
Peace or Love
  • Released: 18 June 2021
  • Label: EMI
  • Formats: CD, LP, MC, digital download, streaming
 4 130 10 60 24 7 9 — 26 —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Remix albums

[edit]
List of remix albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
NOR
[8] 		UK
[14] 		UK
Indie
[14]
Versus
  • Released: 30 October 2001
  • Label: Astralwerks
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming
 30 135 23

EPs

[edit]
List of EPs, with selected chart positions
Title EP details Peak chart positions Track listing
NOR
[8] 		UK
[20]
Playing Live in a Room
  • Released: 10 October 2000
  • Label: Virgin
  • Format: CD, LP
 2 —
Magic in the Air
  • Released: January 2001
  • Label: BMG, Sony
  • Format: CD
  • Limited release for Magic! RPM magazine
 — 82
Live Acoustic Sessions - Milan 2009
  • Released: 1 January 2010
  • Label: Virgin
  • Format: digital download, streaming
 — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

[edit]
List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
NOR
Air
[21] 		BEL
(FL)
[22] 		ITA
[23] 		POL
[24] 		SCO
[25] 		UK
[14] 		UK
Indie
[14]
"Brave New World" 1999 — — — — — — — Non-album single
"Failure" 2000 — — — — 87 63 12 Quiet Is the New Loud
"Toxic Girl" — — — — 48 44 5
"Winning a Battle, Losing the War" 2001 — — — — 98 78 13
"Misread" 2004 — — 15 — — 83 — Riot on an Empty Street
"I'd Rather Dance with You" — — — — 65 60 —
"Know How" (feat. Feist) 2005 — — — — — 86 —
"Mrs. Cold" 2009 — — — 41 — — — Declaration of Dependence
"Boat Behind" — — — 37 — — —
"Rocky Trail" 2021 — —[A] — — — — — Peace or Love
"Fever" 8 — — — — — —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Music videos

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Collaborations

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  • 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" and "Love is a Lonely Thing" (Peace or Love)
  • Biz Markie - "Clowns and Kings" Split Tour EP (2004)

Notes

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  1. ^ "Rocky Trail" did not enter the Flanders Ultratop Top 50, but charted as an "extra tip" on the Flanders Ultratop Bubbling Under chart.[22]

References

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  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. ^ a b c "Discography – Norway (Kings of Convenience in Norwegian Charts)". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  9. ^ "Discographie Kings of Convenience (Kings of Convenience dans les charts francais)". lescharts.com. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  10. ^ "Discographie Kings of Convenience". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Kings of Convenience Album Chart Positions – Italy". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  12. ^ "Discographie Kings of Convenience". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Discography Kings of Convenience". PortugueseCharts. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d e f "Kings of Convenience | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Swedish Charts".
  16. ^ "Kings of Convenience Chart History (The Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  17. ^ "IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  18. ^ a b "British certifications – Kings of Convenience". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 June 2024. Type Kings of Convenience in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  19. ^ "Italian certifications – Kings of Convenience" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 10 July 2024. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Kings of Convenience" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Tutte le sezioni" under "Sezione".
  20. ^ "Chart Log UK 1994–2010 Alex K – Kyuss". zobbel.de. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Radio 2021 uke 33". VG-lista. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  22. ^ a b "Discografie Kings of Convenience" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  23. ^ "italiancharts.com - Kings Of Convenience - Misread". italiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  24. ^ Peaks in Poland:
  25. ^ Peak chart positions in Scotland:
  26. ^ Kings of Convenience – Failure on YouTube
  27. ^ Kings of Convenience – Toxic Girl on YouTube
  28. ^ Kings of Convenience – Misread on YouTube
  29. ^ Kings of Convenience – I'd Rather Dance with You on YouTube
  30. ^ Kings of Convenience – Cayman Islands on YouTube
  31. ^ Kings of Convenience – Mrs. Cold on YouTube
  32. ^ Kings of Convenience – Boat Behind on YouTube
  33. ^ Kings of Convenience – Me in You on YouTube
  34. ^ Kings of Convenience – Rocky Trail on YouTube
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