Riot On An Empty Street

Given how many of their contemporaries have attempted to xerox a winning sound and got it so far wrong, the fact that the Kings can still turn their hand to such magnificent lost hits as 'Misread', spin out obtuse, imaginative imagery as they do in 'Surprise Ice' and sculpt such tender ruminations as 'Stay Out Of Trouble' is cause for serious celebration.

This new album picks up exactly where the Kings left off, with warm melodies and exquisitely detailed ruminations.

If you sort of liked the first record but wished it was more interesting, that it had more punch of both the sonic and emotional variety, then your wishes have come true.

This still isn’t the kind of music that you’ll hear looped on adverts or behind sporting highlights, but instead simple, affecting songs that use the human heart as an instrument as surely as acoustic guitars.

One of the prettiest albums of the year.

The Kings of Convenience don’t stray too far from their basic formula of guitars, upright bass, twinkling piano, viola, cello and soft percussion in the background. It’s consistent and it works.

At this point, we can assume with a fair amount of certainty that they won't be throwing a diverse masterwork our way any time soon, and if the most we can ask for is a consistent run through low-tempo folk, Riot is probably as good as they're going to give us.

Kings of Convenience would do well to assimilate more of Øye's electronic leanings into their original sound, rather than merely mining sad troubadours past for inspiration and leaving these tracks as sparse source material for the obligatory remix album.

Another bittersweet, finger-picked confection that shows their chemistry is still there. [Jul 2004, p.101]

While there is nary a weak offering, five songs in, Riot threatens to be a rehash. [#7]

Sweet, nostalgic and relishing the strength of words softly spoken. [Aug 2004, p.112]