The acoustic guitar duo Kings of Convenience are a product of the vibrant Bergen scene (during the the 'Bergen Wave, as it is sometimes known). Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe met while playing with the band Skog and are often compared to Simon and Garfunkel and Nick Drake with just a hint of the Pet Shop Boys. Their debut album, Quiet is the New Loud (2001) sold over 200,000 copies world-wide and is reputed to have invented the 'NAM' or New Acoustic Movement, which nevertheless faded soon afterwards. Their second album Versus was released in 2001 and their third Riot on a Empty Street (2004) met with rave reviews. Music journalist Ian Wilson wrote of the track Misread from that album '...short-sighted boys with thrift store haircuts will dust down their cord jackets with patches on the elbows and sigh wistfully at their equally as short-sighted girlfriends in hand me down floral print dresses as this oh-so-wistful tune crackles from the 1970s stereo in the corner of their favourite café somewhere on the outskirts of Oslo/Stockholm/Swindon (delete as appropriate).'

Both maintain separate interests as DJs and musicians, Erlend Øye recording a solo album Unrest and touring to America in 2004.