One half of the Kings Of Convenience goes electro.

Erlend Øye is better known as one half of the Norwegian acoustic duo Kings Of Convenience. He’s also responsible for the vocals on Röyksopp’s Poor Leno and Remind Me. In February he releases his first solo offering, Unrest. A project that comes from his frustration with his musical other half’s dislike of touring, “which made me unhappy because I’d been waiting to tour all my life.”

The project began at an electronic music festival in Finland where he decided to try and record with some of the electro acts he’d seen. “I thought wouldn’t it be great if I could stay here for a week and make a song with these guys. And then wouldn’t it be great to go to 10 cities and find people, and get their creative input and the newness of being in a new place.”

Unrest is the result: 10 songs recorded in 10 cities with 10 different producers, including Berlin’s Schneider TM and Helsinki's OP:L Bastards. Considering its approach, it’s a very consistent record – laid-back electronic folk infused with Erlend’s typical approach to songwriting: “The original idea was to go as far away from the Kings Of Convenience as possible but to still do our kind of vocals and stories.”

The album has a similar tone to Kings and Röyksopp. Is there a reason why Norwegian records sound so, well, Norwegian? “A lot of good music is not very available in Norway. So people who discover it, discover it with a big sense of enthusiasm. There’s something about the innocent enjoyment of that.”

And has that changed now that you make music for a living? “It changes the way me and Erik work together in Kings Of Convenience. At some point we became colleagues. And it’s kinda sad when you realise you’re not so much friends any more, as colleagues.”

The record company has lined up a new Kings album for the end of next year. Erlend, however, is a little more candid: “For a long time I was the one who was pulling the cart that was Kings Of Convenience. I was the one who was getting our music recorded and sent to people, so I’ve kind of left the cart on the road. At some point I expect Erik to come along and start pulling it.” Matt Walton 05 December 02

The single Sudden Rush will be released 27 January 03. The album Unrest will be released 10 February 02.

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