Kings of Convenience

With the deceptively simple two guitars and two voices, the Kings of Convenience plop in the middle of the pop pond with an excellent debut recording that crosses Simon & Garfunkel with Belle and Sebastian. The duo hail from Bergen, Norway, but unlike most Scandinavian pop that nests in the land of twee, the Kings are surprisingly masculine, despite their softly strummed guitars and whispery vocals. With deep, sensitive voices they harmonise with each other, tending to take the vocal low road; for embellishment, a spare, plucked melody suffices. This deceptive simplicity makes their songs all the more remarkable - upon initial listenings, the lack of almost any other participants goes largely unnoticed in favour of dropped jaws at their effortless melodic sense. All rise for the new Kings of pop.