[02.03] Erlend Øye (the bespectacled half of Kings of Convenience) made Unrest as a ten songs, ten cities, ten producers solo project. While the Kings' bittersweet harmonies and fireside-guitars recall an updated Simon and Garfunkel, their remix project Versus explored acoustic electronica in collaborations with the likes of laptop guru Four Tet. The Kings also have worked closely with fellow Norwegians Royksopp, whose down-tempo mixed nicely with the King's mellow melancholy. Having quite enjoyed that logical progression, I was a little surprised when I heard Unrest the first time around. Sure, the voice is the same, with its sweetly sung, melancholic melodies. But clearly, Erlend has lent more from another fellow Norwegian band on this album: A-ha and their '80s synth-pop contemporaries. If the bandwagon right now is '80s synth revival (and bands like the Faint sure make it look that way), then Erlend certainly has jumped onto it.

Bumping into Erlend last year sheds some light on his solo album: He was about to warm up for A-ha in front of 45,000 people, and was gushing at the honor of playing with his childhood heroes. Clearly, Unrest is a tribute to the era in which A-ha peaked and pimply kids like me and Erlend roamed icy grounds in atrocious clothing. Don't misunderstand. This is not the Alphaville come-back album. It is a smartly written piece of work, and Erlend has partnered with some of the most interesting newer names in electronic music (Germany's Schneider TM, New York's Morgan Geist and Atlanta's Prefuse 73, to name a few).

While the average buyer of the KOC's first oeuvre may be put off by the electronic sheen, the essential nerve and humor of Erlend's work continues. He even attempts a rap in the collaboration with Italians Jolly Music in "Prego Amore," a lighthearted song where the Norseman, smitten by latin love, whispers "you wanna come in my room?" to some young Italian lady. The goofy humor of KOC's live show comes through more on this album than any of their previous work. When it comes down to it, Unrest is what they call a "grower." On first listen, I thought it sounded somewhat fluffy—pleasant, but lightweight. But give it a few twirls and it'll be tough to stop playing anything but this CD.
—Nils