Norwegian folk-pop duo to play Iron Horse Saturday

With CD titles such as "Quiet is the New Loud" and "Riot on an Empty Street," it seems pop band The Kings of Convenience has an affinity for odd juxtapositions.

But the titles actually refer to the combustible process the Norwegian duo endures when making a record.

"We disagree a lot. There's a lot of arguments behind each musical decision," said Eirik Glambek Boe, who serves as the main singer for the band. "It's a matter of having two creative minds agree on a finished product, so the titles sum up the contradictions that come from working on an album for three years."

Boe and his bandmate Erland Oye will bring their art-school folk-pop to the Iron Horse Saturday at 7 p.m. The duo is touring in support of "Riot on an Empty Street" - their first effort since 2001's "Quiet is the New Loud."

The band took a few years off when Boe decided to go back to college to study psychology. In the meantime, Oye kept the beat alive by issuing a solo effort and touring as a DJ. For Boe, however, the break was needed.

"I like touring every now and then," he said. "It's a good experience to meet the people who enjoy your music, but doing it all the time makes me tired. I enjoy touring while it's happening, but after it's done, I need a lot of time off."

The Iron Horse date will be just the ninth show on this tour, and so far Boe feels great about the shows. The tour features just the duo, singing their trademark harmonies above acoustic guitars.

"It's going really well," he said. "It's just the two of us, which most of our shows have been. We've played about 200 shows in our career and most of them are just the two of us. It's more fun sometimes with a full band, but it takes a lot more organization to put that together for a tour."

Fans of the group probably won't care much, as even the arrangements on the CDs are usually stripped-down, understated affairs: Some drums here, a trumpet there, with other oddities tossed in along the way. The pair write separately, then get together to complete each others' songs, Boe said.

"No song is 100 percent by either of us, but it's not 50-50 either," he said. "It's usually 70-30 depending on whose idea it was."

Although the new record isn't a great sonic departure from the band's first work, Boe feels there is enough change to keep fans interested without alienating them

"I think we did some things differently and it's just a natural step for us," he said.

One difference was the inclusion of singer Leslie Feist on two songs. Boe invited her to sing on the CD after hearing her in Berlin in 2002.

"She played a small club and I was completely amazed by her voice," Boe said.