gentlementle's Full Review: Quiet Is the New Loud by Kings of Convenience
Maybe the nouveau Simon & Garfunkel. Maybe the latest reincarnation of Nick Drake. Maybe you should decide for yourself.
Definitely the most random thing to come out of the Astralwerks label, the Norwegian Kings of Convenience are making some subdued but steady waves in the folk rock scene. Imagine a shaded dell somewhere in Scandinavia, preferably near a cottage with a chimney blowing off intermittent smoke. Imagine a red, metal ashtray on a tree stump and people drinking some fresh, homemade coffee, wrapped in plaid, flannel blankets and afghan sweaters. And then imagine the music that would set the scene and there you'd have "Kings of Convenience."
Definitely a throwback to the 1960s, their music is heavily acoustic. And although their actual guitar work may not be very original and their sentiments not very fresh, their sound is so deliciously sleepy and opaque that you have to love them. Their first track, "Winning a Battle, Losing a War," which starts out with guitars a la "Norwegian (haha) Wood" and smoothly transitions into their intermingling, barely-there voices. A lot of tinkling string work reminiscent of S&G on "April Come She Will," as they start singing, you know that their voices were made for each other, twinning each other's motions on every dip and groove they explore in their ranges.
The same with the most "energetic" song on the album, "Failure." (They actually use drums here, shock horror.) Their breathy chorus consists of "Failure is always the best way to learn/Retracing your steps till you know/Have no fear, your wounds will heal." All accompanied by the omnipresent tinkly guitar riff and a heavier use of bass here, but still managing to come off as delicate and "fluffy" as before.
The rest of the CD - accentuated by violin/cello/etc. and sometimes a rare electric guitar - could be construed as repetitive and too valium-infused on the first listen, but their lyrics and expressions definitely have grown on me. Their subtle confessions/statements on life and whatever always hit home for me and their sound is so conducive to self-reflection (or maybe medication), introspection and all that jazz. One drawback that it's very easy for their music to fall into the background and the general hum of everyday life. Like putting some music on at work that's unobtrusive and quiet. But it's when you discover a new aspect on something generic and banal, which creates a small, magical moment: a displacement from your daily routine.
The Kings of Convenience definitely strive for that kind of small, intimate spark on each of their 12 tracks. Aptly titled, their second album, "Quiet Is the New Loud," is a subtle but surprising piece of work.
Aside:
As someone said in a Pitchfork Media Review, "If Simon and Garfunkel are the kindly old hippies selling weed outside the high school and preaching about the wonders of free love, the Kings of Convenience are the boys who've thought about smoking weed but can't because of their asthma."
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