Two songs immediately reminded me why we should love the delicate sounds Kings of Convenience: "Mrs. Cold" and "Boat Behind" are brilliant acoustic folk songs with just a touch of tropical whimsy. The songs that follow are less stand-out on their own, but as part of the whole, they just might work. The distinct order to these songs stands out, as listener travels from the cute guitar-picking of the standouts to slowed-down middle ("My ship isn't pretty" is almost acapella with limited guitar strumming), barely picking back up toward the end with songs like "Peacetime Resistance," which really rides the instrumentation.
On this album, Kings of Convenience have included a song called "riot on empty street," the same name as that of a previous album. Yet, this new album does not have the same upbeats and surprise joyful sounds of the album, "Riot on empty street." Rather, declaration of dependence has an overall sound of melancholic slowing down. The album highlights Kings of Convenience vocals and music, but rarely together. Each element is given a stage with each changing song, proving that the vocals can be the instrument for declaration of dependence, and other times, that we should listen to the sounds each strum can make. It takes some warming up, but eventually, these songs settle in to deliver their quietly strong songs.
Declaration of Dependence is the story of two people living two very different lives sensing that they are immensely more powerful together than apart: in that sense it is the most adult, the most mature record Kings of Convenience have ever made. that it is their most gripping, their most revealing is, if anything, just a by-product of that honesty and their endeavour - S. Box
"Music your parents like too" is how Kings of Convenience describe themselves on their MySpace profile. It's a telling statement; self-effacing, sure, but not without a grain of truth "“ a tacit acknowledgement that the music Eirik Bøe and Erlend Øye make isn't the kind to offend millions, move mountains, part oceans. No, it's lovely, pretty, well crafted; it's nice. And sometimes, well, that's just plenty"¦ Perhaps the highest compliment you can pay Kings of Convenience in 2009 is that for an act whose success stems directly from their effortlessly intuitive style, they've never sounded quite as effortless "“ or as intuitive "“ as they do here. Heck, your parents will probably like it too - BBC Music review
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