Music artist Erlend Øye from Norway is touring March in 2015 along with his band The Rainbows, playing in Hong Kong on 17 March, followed by Singapore on 19 March and Kuala Lumpur on 23 March. The tour follows on the release inOctober 2014 of his second solo album Legao.
Erlend Øye is a composer, musician, producer, songwriter and sing from Bergen, best known for being part of the indie folk duo Kings of Convenience. His special voice stands out for example on the track ‘For the Time Being’ together with the artist Phonique. He also collaborated previously with dance experimentalists Röyksopp. He was the leader of the band The Whitest Boy Alive, a project which ended in 2014.
Øye was at the vanguard of a Scandinavian surge that has seen bands such as The Knife, Sigur Rós and The Cardigans dominate everything from electronic dance music to pop. As Kings of Convenience, Øye and partner Erik Glambek Boe took traditional Norwegian church music and welded it to Western folk and pop, in songs constructed from delicate guitar melodies and intricate arrangements.
In an interview Erlend Øye portrays the Norwegian music scene: “One explanation for the wave of Scandinavian acts is the demise of the nation’s manufacturing industries — which have all gone to China. There’s no longer very much meaningful work. Nobody makes anything anymore. But there is music, one of the few handcrafts left that matters. It’s about the only thing we still make that we can share.”
Erlend Øye often performs reworked versions of other bands’ songs during his concerts.
“Very excited about this tour. I know we will eat very well. And i know we will be treated very well. And I expect audiences that are attentive and participating. Unfortunately no show in Indonesia this time:-( We were close to make it happen but in the end it didn’t work out. Those of you that have the opportunity, please come to Singapore show instead,” Erlend wrote on his Facebook page.
