Kings of Convenience’s third album, Declaration of Dependence, is a wonderful record for a lot of reasons. For one, Eirik Bøe is equally comfortable talking about the record’s “serious ideas” and laughing about its’ “hi-brow Bossa Nova” moments while his partner Erlend Øye is clearly thrilled by making, “the most rhythmical pop record ever that features no percussion or drums.” For another, there is no one who makes records like they do. “When we started out we were afraid of sounding like other artists,” Erlend says. “But now we feel pretty much alone.” But the most striking thing about this album is how powerfully it reminds you that making music together is not a game, it’s not something to be undertaken lightly, this record is part of a much larger picture, a long and involved relationship that has had its good and bad times. To be able to make music this emotionally open you have to be ready to lay a lot of yourself on the line and you have to develop the ability to be brutally honest about your own ideas. (pull)Declaration of Dependence sees Kings of Convenience – a pair of very different people, both with a highly developed sense of how to do things – grasp the power they have together. More than that, it finds them admitting how much they need each other to make the music they really want to make. Honesty like this doesn’t happen very often on pop music. (/pull)“We are opposites in many ways,” Eirik says. “There is a lot of conflict, a lot of different interests, but we have argued so much over the last few years that now we finally know how to deal with each other.” As beautiful as you would expect – and songs like “Second to Numb”, “Rule My World” and “24-25” are as perfectly realized as anything they’ve ever written – Declaration of Dependence also marks the beginning of a new era for the duo. The record began to take shape in February 2007 when they met up on the same beach in Mexico that is pictured on the album’s cover. The pair came together to play a concert in the city the following month, the first time they had appeared together in more than two years. They shared a feeling that there was another record to be made. “Really,” says Eirik “We had no choice.” “Go easy on me, I can’t help what I’m doing…” Renegade
All the photos in this gallery are from Kings of Convenience’s intimate show at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom on Thursday, September 10th, 2009.
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