Peace or Love

Peace or Love is the fourth studio album by Norwegian indie folk-pop duo Kings of Convenience. Released on 18 June 2021, it is their first album in 12 years. It features two song collaborations with Canadian musician Feist. It was preceded by two singles: "Rocky Trail" and "Fever".

Background and release
Kings of Convenience released their third studio album Declaration of Dependence in 2009 which reached number four on the US Billboard 200 chart and was met with generally favourable reviews. In April 2021, the duo, which consists of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe, announced the release of their fourth studio album titled Peace or Love. "Rocky Trail" was released as the lead single on 30 April 2021, alongside the album's announcement. "Fever" was served as the second single on 28 May. The album was released on 18 June by EMI Records. Their first album in 12 years, Peace or Love was recorded by the duo five times.

Music
The melody and arrangement of "Catholic Country" was "jammed out" with The Staves at the first PEOPLE Festival.

Critical reception
Peace or Love received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 76 based on 10 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews". At AnyDecentMusic?, which collates album reviews from websites, magazines and newspapers, they gave the release a 7 out of 10, based on a critical consensus of 13 reviews.

In a 9/10 review, Tom Pinnock of Uncut called it their most cohesive album to date, writing that the band "seem to have discovered the purest essence of the music they create." Reviewing for The Guardian, Ben Beaumont-Thomas praised the duo's vocal chemistry as well as the album's acoustic arrangement and emotional narrative, calling it "a beautifully simple return". Similarly, Eric Mason from Slant Magazine commended the record for retaining the duo's "distinctly tranquil guitar-centric sound" and favoured the presence of bossa nova. Pitchfork writer Linnie Greene described the album as "an especially airbrushed take on easy-listening pop".

Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes and Tidal.

Musicians

 * Eirik Glambek Bøe – vocals (tracks 1–11), nylon-string acoustic guitar (tracks 1–11), piano (track 6), drums (track 9)
 * Erlend Øye – vocals (tracks 1–6, 8–11), steel-string acoustic guitar (tracks 1–11)
 * Feist – vocals (tracks 5, 9)
 * Davide Bertolini – upright bass (track 1, 9), viola da gamba (track 9)
 * Alexander Grieg – bowed upright bass (tracks 1, 6)
 * Tobias Hett – viola (tracks 2, 4, 6, 11)
 * Alexander von Mehren – bass (track 2), marimba (track 2), keyboards (track 2)

Technical

 * Kings of Convenience – production (tracks 1, 3–7), mixing (tracks 1, 3, 5–7)
 * Erlend Øye – programming (track 6), recording (track 6)
 * Davide Bertolini – production (tracks 1, 6, 9), mixing (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9), recording (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9), upright bass (track 1)
 * Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm – production (tracks 2, 3, 7, 11), mixing (tracks 2, 3, 7, 11), recording (tracks 2, 3, 7, 11)
 * Cristian Heyne – production (track 4), recording (track 4)
 * Robert Jønnum – production (tracks 8, 10), mixing (tracks 8, 10), recording (tracks 8, 10)
 * Antonio Pulli – production (track 5), mixing (track 5), recording (track 5)
 * Phil Weinrobe – production (track 9), recording (track 9)
 * Fernando Herrera Bastidas – mixing (track 4), recording (track 4)
 * Jørgen Træen – mastering (tracks 1, 2, 4–6, 9–11)
 * Norman Nitzsche – mastering (tracks 3, 7, 8)
 * Sascha Steinfurth – guitar technician

Artwork

 * Glauco Canalis – front cover photograph, jacket photograph, label photograph
 * Salvo Alibrio – gatefold spread photograph, tiny blurry photograph
 * Andrea Moschella – graphic design

Other

 * Sascha Steinfurth – consultant
 * Øystein Bruvik – album title