Categories : Folk + Roots, Music Reviews, Top Rated.
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Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Jon Roe |
By combining soulful harmonizing and light guitar backing, the Kings of Convenience have crafted the perfect soundtrack to staring longingly out a rain-spattered window with Declaration of Dependence.
The Norwegian folk duo of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe have been together since 1999 and made a bit of a splash in 2004 on this side of the Atlantic with their third album, Riot on an Empty Street, which featured collaborations with Feist. Declaration continues along the same lines established with Riot, where the duo uses their delicate sounds to paint beautiful pictures and tell tales of love and loss.
‘24-25,’ the first cut on the album, is stirring in its tranquillity as much as ‘Mrs. Cold,’ one of the first singles released to U.K. airwaves, is lightly uplifting. It doesn’t get to much higher levels of energy than that, though, even with the addition of a violin on ‘Boat Behind’ and ‘Peacetime Resistance.’ But what’s lacking in pick-up is more than made up for in nuanced and layered melodies.
While staring out your window and listening to Declaration, you’ll have plenty to think about. Growing old. A girl you may have let slip through your fingers. Or perhaps where this strikingly beautiful Norwegian music has been all your life.
