“Declarations of Independence” – Kings of Convenience

It’s a balmy evening in Adelaide – it’s a hot day here with the temperature reaching 43C at 4.31pm – at the moment it’s still around 39C and it’s nearly 9pm! So yes, I am now well-roasted and ready to be seasoned with some salt and pepper and then I’ll be good enough to eat! 😀

I’m listening to Kings of Convenience’s latest album Declarations of Independence that I bought in Parramatta, NSW. I had been trying to find the album for ages but they were sold out in JB-HiFi whenever I went there to check. So when I went to Sydney and Parramatta at the beginning of the month, I thought I should pay the local JB-HiFi a visit. There were two copies left in the Parramatta shop, so of course I bought one excitedly! Woohoo.

It’s thanks to my friend Edvard Hauff who introduced me to Kings of Convenience way back in 2002 when I went to Norway for the first time – when we went to Platekompaniet, I asked him to recommend some Norwegian artists. He recommended Kings of Convenience and Thomas Dybdahl, and both are now part of my elite list of favourite artists. 🙂 Kings of Convenience are Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe – the duo from Bergen, Norway.

When I listened to Quiet is the New Loud for the first time, I thought it was a bit ho-hum. However, when I discovered the remixed album Versus in the clearance section at the HMV store in Orchard Road in CityLink, my interest in Kings of Convenience was awakened. When their second album Riot on an Empty Street was released in 2004, I was head over heels with their music. Since then, I have also appreciated their first album a lot. All of their songs are permanent fixtures in my iPhone and have followed me from my iPod days.

How can I describe Kings of Convenience’s music? It’s Simon & Garfunkel for the current generation – it’s music that is free of additives and embellishment. It’s the music of spring, summer and autumn – of days with the breeze gently blowing your hair – of sunlight peering through the birch leaves – or of a lazy late afternoon as you lie down on the couch with a book on your stomach and the rain blowing on the window.

Their third album, Declarations of Independence does not disappoint – some songs have been played repeatedly on my iPhone. It’s hard to pick favourites but I must say that the catchy tunes of ‘Me in You’ is hard to resist. Mrs. Cold also evokes a sense of a joyride down through a quaint village (even though the lyric may disagree!). 24-25 is an early-morning song to me … when the day is yet to start and everything is still. It’s as if the notes were tiptoeing across the grass to meet you. I can’t dissect each of the songs as the album is meant to be enjoyed, not to be commented or analysed to bits. 🙂

If you feel like listening to a new album that will make you smile, without any particular reasons, and make you want to greet the day with a big hug, get Kings of Convenience’s latest album – and while you’re at it, get their earliest ones as well!