The Airportline: Observations

One of Airportlines favourite bands talk about growing up and what sounds like the end of music making from one of my true creative role models Erlend Øye in The Independent:

"Doing this album and the tour is definitely the end of a chapter for me, of these last two years," says Øye. "There are the three Kings of Convenience album, and the other albums I've been making. I feel I've said a lot. It's not the end of the band, but as a recording musician, I would love to take it easy now. I've said a lot of things. I wouldn't want to write anymore after this unless it really came very strongly to me. I don't think I'm going to be looking for it anymore. I guess there is all the other life out there. When you record albums, tour, record albums, tour, it's a constant state of emergency. You are losing out on normal life, on having friendships with people, routines. I guess at my age, either you just continue at a constant state of emergency or you have to really slow the pace down, try to reconnect to normal life, if such a thing exists."

One of the musical heroes in my world comes from Norway and has curly red hair. He made his name with another, less curly and red haired Norwegian, as the duo Kings Of Convenience in 2001. Erlend Öye now resides in Berlin, where he sometimes plays hipster funk with some Germans under the name The Whitest Boy Alive. They are amazing. But, it will always be for Kings Of Convenience that he will get his acclaim, and rightly so. After two amazing albums of hazy summery, Simon and Garfunkel sounding dreamy singer/songwriter pop the two Norwegians are lining up another album in October. One of the songs from that is called Mrs Cold, and it sounds just like you want it to sound. Like a summer setting on a warm evening the duo tip toe with their guitars over sand castles, lovers kissing and a few careful string swing by as well. Fantastic.

Friday evening and I’m sitting with four newly showered floorball players in a car on the way from Amersfoort to Amsterdam. I like going between cities in the Netherlands during daytime cause it gives me the chance to see some cows. I tell this to the floorball men who are fogging the windows in the car. They laugh, no one tells me their favorite animal. Maybe they don’t have favorite animals? When I lived in Malaysia I spent a lot of time thinking about favorite animals. And now it’s Monday and I went to yoga for the first time ever and stepped out in the world a bit confused with all the movement. I put on King of Convenience in my mp3 player and biked to Albert Hein to get some food. But when I got there I forgot what I was suppose to buy, so I stood in the isle to try and figure it out, starring at some asian wook sauces. Then I went home and read in the Swedish authors Bodil Malmsten’s book ‘Hör bara hur ditt hjärta bultar i mig’ (Just hear how your heart is pounding in mine, if I try and translate the title) where she writes (once again my translation):

Only the dumbest think thats it exclusively glamorous to break up from a country you have been living in for 50 years and settle down in another culture.