Kings of Convenience

Few indie folk duos have built so much on so little as Kings of Convenience, the Bergen duo of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe. The two have known each other since they shared a class at school, and their first joint effort was a comedic rap about a teacher, a joke that gave little hint of the understated songs to come. Before the Kings name, they played in Skog, meaning forest, with two other friends and released one EP, Tom Tids Tale.

Signed to the American label Kindercore after festival appearances in Europe in 1999, the duo issued Quiet Is the New Loud in 2001, produced by Coldplay's Ken Nelson. The album was successful enough to lend its name to a movement of pop underground acts, Turin Brakes among them. Versus, a remix collection, followed. Riot on an Empty Street arrived in 2004, and the video for its single "I'd Rather Dance With You" topped MTV's European list of 2004's best. Declaration of Dependence came out in October 2009. In April 2021 they returned with "Rocky Trail", twelve years after their last music as a duo, and announced Peace or Love for June.