CD & LP (Astralwerks)
Erlend Øye released the second Whitest Boy Alive album earlier this year & it hit all the notes we were hoping for. But we were all quietly extra-excited when we discovered that there’d be a new Kings Of Convenience album in 2009. Øye & Erik Glambek Bøe returned with another beautiful installment of peaceful, cloudy folkage. Through most of Declaration, the pair’s voices blend almost to the point of being indecipherable, with more minimal arrangements giving even more space to the singing & pleasant guitar figures. We could pick individual songs, but the uniformity that blurs the entirety of Declaration isn’t a downfall; it’s one of its strongpoints – you want 40 minutes of bliss? Say hello to one of 2009’s best. Another amazing album to roll out of bed to.