The winsome acoustic pop peddled by Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience evokes images of shy teenagers brooding in grim suburban bedrooms. It is thus mildly disconcerting to discover in Kings' singer Eirik Be something of a death-metal authority. Could a head-banging child of Beelzebub lurk behind that effetely bespectacled exterior?
"Our home town of Bergen has a huge death-metal scene," he says. "You've heard of Count Grishnack (Varg Vikernes to his mum)? He was an infamous metal leader who burned down a lot of churches and killed many people. I took karate lessons with him. Very intelligent, very charismatic, very evil. Not a big influence on me."
Occupying a grey area between Simon and Garfunkel and Nick Drake, the Kings' lissom melancholia is a pained whimper when set against the apocalyptic din beloved of their townsfolk, but it possesses an abrasive emotional ferocity.
Starkly, almost overbearingly intense, their songs have earned comparisons with the miserabilist fringe of America's avantpop ascendancy. Prompted by the soaring profile of gently downbeat acts such as Minnesota's Low, Virginia's Labradford and Indiana's Songs Ohia, music press wags speak of a burgeoning "quiet is the loud" movement. Some groups might shrink from being so pigeon-holed. Be and co-conspirator Erlend Oye happily embrace the tag, even appropriating it for their new album.
"Calling the record Quiet Is The New Loud wasn't an attempt to make a political statement about music. Personally, I enjoy many loud tracks. It was important to make the point that quiet music can be just as effective as any other sort," says Be. We've been here before, of course, with Morrissey's mid-1980s glad-to-be-glum aesthete, the fringe-in-its-face "shoegazing" vogue five years later, and Belle and Sebastian's morose folksiness today. Doesn't the world have enough depressing music already?
"First of all, I don't think our music is all that sad," says Be. "Sure, a lot of acoustic music is extremely downbeat. Stuff like Nick Drake I find difficult to listen to sometimes. But our songs don't really belong in the same category. There's some levity in there too. Quiet music can be uplifting. You can discover hope and optimism if you look closely enough."
The Kings honed their craft in a lakeside house outside Bergen owned by Erlend's parents. The forbidding natural beauty nurtured the duo's artistry, imbuing it with an ethereal quality often absent in groups from more "happening" vistas. "We moved to Britain because we knew it was the only means of bringing our music to a wider audience. Before we left Norway I had always wondered how it was that most of the really good British bands didn't come from London," says Be.
"When we arrived it became obvious to us that a lot of musicians in the capital had compromised themselves because they were so close to the heart of the record industry. Hemmed in, they had to conform from the beginning. So much music from big cities like London is contrived and wants to be part of some `scene' or other.
"Those pressures don't exist in Norway. While there are a lot of musicians in Bergen, we don't really have a music industry. There is no requirement to follow a certain formula. We were able to develop at our own pace."
Relocating to Manchester, via Essex, the Kings signed to the city's hip but shambolic Twisted Nerve imprint, home to Mercury award-winning indie ingenue Badly Drawn Boy.
"They were the first people to really understand what we were doing," says Boe. "The downside of coming from Norway is that you can feel a little bit isolated."
A heavy touring schedule, augmented by a slew of positive reviews for Quiet Is The New Loud, has seen the Kings' popularity grow in recent months. Yet many critics are sceptical, accusing the duo of over-indulging their shy-boy mannerisms.
"People have attacked us for being too soft, too quiet on stage," says Be. "Maybe they want us to cut loose and work up some noise. We won't be doing that. I don't think we have it in us."
The Kings of Convenience play the Olympia Theatre on Tuesday. Quiet Is The New Loud is on Twisted Nerve.
