Sound Bites: 'Toxic Girl' by Kings of Convenience

What is it?

This is a single from the largely acoustic Norwegian duo The Kings of Convenience. It was released in 2001 and was the breakthrough song of the band, according to, well, me.

Why have you chosen it?

It's an unbelievably melodic piece of music. I love the lyrics, the Norwegian lilt to the vocals, the layering of the guitars' arpeggios remarkable and, all in all, it leads to a very distinctive and memorable piece of songwriting. I'm also a huge fan of the album this comes from, Quiet is the New Loud. The vocal harmonising around 2:45 is also something to behold. Just when you think there's not much more that can be achieved with a guitar and a couple of people singing, along comes a song like this to make you wonder if maybe there just might be

something new under the sun. So, yes, I've picked this for its sheer melody and harmony, but also for its distinctiveness, sense of movement through verse, chorus etc, and a sense that nobody else could really have written this piece of music apart from the bards from Bergen that are Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe.

If you enjoyed this track I'd also recommend 'Catholic Country' from Peace or Love as well as Rocky Trail (possibly their best track yet) from the same album, or Misread from Riot on an Empty Street, as well as Me in You from Declaration of Dependence. See below.

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Andrew Jamison is a poet and teacher, and you can read more articles on his blog here or get a paid subscription and access all previous and future posts here. You can also browse his poetry collections and buy signed, first editions of each of them here.