Let Kommode in, and you will be consumed by Analog Dance Music, the first album from the Bergen-natives that fills the air with sounds from samba to jazz, much like a continental wind that wistfully blows throughout the ten songs. Kommode sees Eirik Glambek Bøe go beyond the usual indie-minimalist pursuits in Kings of Convenience. His new project has a much different ambition – to produce a sound that is rich and full. Kommode succeeds in creating music that would be the ideal soundtrack to a midsummer’s party, surrounded by friends, kissed by the sun, wine in hand, overlooking the ocean in the south of France. “The problem is we are making songs that are a just a little too slow to dance to,” tells Glambek Bøe, who is making music under the Kommode-moniker with his childhood friend, Øystein Gjærder Bruvik. Glambek Bøe grew up with the sound of disco in his ears, fondly recalling Wham’s “A Ray of Sunshine” from the 1983 LP Fantastic, while also drawing influences from house and techno. Glambek Bøe’s describes a picture that sums up the thinking around the new band. Three friends are lined up on a dusty Norwegian gravel track, covered in sweat. The evening sun squeezes between the rooftops that surround the football pitch. The young men have just finished a social game. It’s child’s play, done for pure enjoyment. And it is precisely this that Glambek Bøe missed when it came to his music – playing just for the love of it. He endeavoured to play music his way. Without a device, without interviews, mostly without concerts. Music for music’s sake. Out of that idea came Kommode. The cover art by Norwegian artist Inger Johanne Nygren also says something about the Kommode vibe. The artwork is saturated in different elements, showcasing many tools used to perform crafts. Analog Disco Music is also a craft, carved out through a recording period of five years. Now you can dance to it.
