Kings of Convenience in Singapore
March 19th, 2006 -- Posted in music | No Comments »The Kings of Convenience were in town the last week… and I missed them!!!
(And my dear friend Mel did try to remind me… but it was too late. Nevertheless, thanks for the reminder, schweetiee…)
“The Norwegian pair creates lulling acoustic melodies and sing harmonies beautiful enough to make Simon & Garfunkel blush.” – Boston Guide
Once upon a time there was a fearless Nordic duo, who waged war on the world armed with only two soft voices and two acoustic guitars. Their names were Eirik Glambek Bøe and Erlend Øye, and like their Viking ancestors they crossed continents to bring their songs of love, heartache and life to the world beyond.
Soon strange tales began to filter out of an odd pair, who’d met at an inter-schools geography contest as children (which Erlend won by drawing a map of the world freehand from memory) that had later reunited in song, in a gloomy rock band that did Joy Division covers called Skog (Norwegian for Tree).
Destiny however had other plans, and soon it was goodnight Skog and the Kings Of Convenience were born.
With their delicate lush lyrics, the indie-pop duo were thrust into the public eye in 2001 with a magnificent debut album Quiet is the New Loud which sold more than 200,000 copies worldwide, garnered strong reviews and a cult following to boot.
Kings of Convenience is credited for spearheading the New Acoustic Movement, in the tradition of Simon and Garfunkel and Nick Drake. Fans of Belle & Sebastian and Elliott Smith would likewise be seduced by these sweater-clad dreamers.
One of the signature single “Misread”, which I believe many know the band by, is my favorite. It has meanings so real to most of us… on friends who have misread our good intentions and only left us with nothing more than disappointment.
| Misread |
Check out other songs at the Kings of Convenience Jukebox or my past blog posts I Don’t Know What I Can Save you From and Toxic Girl.

