Erlend Øye

Since the late '90s, Norwegian indie pop singer/songwriter Erlend Øye has been a prolific force of nature, releasing numerous albums, EPs, and singles with his two primary bands, the acoustic duo Kings of Convenience and the more electronic-based the Whitest Boy Alive. Outside of these two projects, he has acted as a collaborator with a wide array of pop and electronic acts, most notably appearing as the vocalist on Röyksopp's 2001 debut album Melody A.M. While living in Berlin, he made his first solo album, Unrest, in 2003. The well-traveled singer later resumed his solo career in the early-2010s after moving to Sicily, Italy. Øye's fascination with global sounds and unique recording locations has become a facet of his music; 2014's sunny Legao was recorded in Reykjavík with Icelandic reggae outfit Hjálmar. After an unexpected pandemic lockdown album made in a Mexican hotel room, he collaborated with his Sicilian band La Comitiva on a 2024 chamber pop album inspired by his travels through Chile.

A native of Bergen, Norway, Øye moved to London in 1998, playing guitar in a band called Peachfuzz. During visits home, he and former high school bandmate Eirik Glambek Bøe would play together, eventually forming Kings of Convenience. Their quiet introspective indie pop drew inspiration from acts like Simon & Garfunkel and Belle & Sebastian, culminating in their 2001 breakthrough debut album Quiet Is the New Loud. After his collaboration with Röyksopp that same year, Øye developed an interest in electronic music and relocated to Berlin, immersing himself in numerous projects and traveling the world from this new home base. In 2003, he released the highly collaborative solo album Unrest, which was recorded in ten different cities with ten different electronic artists; he toured as a DJ, singing along live to the tracks. 2004 saw the return of his partnership with Bøe, as Kings of Convenience released their critically acclaimed follow-up Riot on an Empty Street. Around this same time, Øye formed the Whitest Boy Alive, a project which began as an electronic, dance-oriented act but later became focused on more organic, live playing. This band made its debut on Øye's newly formed Bubbles Records in 2006. In 2009, both Kings of Convenience and the Whitest Boy Alive released new albums. Over the following years, Øye became involved as a producer, making a pair of records with Norwegian indie band Kakkmaddafakka in 2011 and 2013. During this time, he relocated to the Sicilian town of Siracusa and released a new solo single sung entirely in Italian. Officially announcing the end of his Whitest Boy Alive project in 2013, he shifted his focus primarily to his solo work, traveling to Reykjavík to record his long-awaited second solo album with Icelandic reggae band Hjálmar. The resulting album, Legao, was released in October 2014. Over the next several years, Øye kept up his international travels, and spent a season in Chile learning ukulele and collaborating with local musicians. With his Sicilian backing La Comitiva, he continued to evolve his indie pop sound, adding a rich South American flavor to the mix.

While traveling in Mexico in early 2020, he and former Whitest Boy Alive drummer Sebastian Maschat found themselves in lockdown at a hotel in San Jose del Cabo at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using equipment they found locally, the two friends recorded and released an album, Quarantine at El Ganzo, that same year. After returning to Sicily, Øye reunited with his bandmates Marco Castello, Luigi Orofino, and Stefano Ortisi to record an album together. Released in 2024 and credited to Erlend Øye and La Comitiva, the self-titled La Comitiva fused the singer's latter-day influences to create a breezy album of South American rhythms, Italian film music, and winsome chamber pop. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi