There must be something awfully magical over in Scandinavia's water supply, because some of the best melodic-anything in a variety of genres has continually emerged out of Sweden and Norway with almost bewildering consistency. From progressive metal (Pain Of Salvation, Opeth) to AOR (Work Of Art, Treat) and so on and so forth, there's a little something for everyone out there...almost to the point where you'd need half a dozen Twitter feeds just to keep track of it all!
That being said, you don't have to be a eclectic guy like me to appreciate the good stuff from that side of the pond. Just ask any Pitchfork-slobbering ponce from the last six years or your local Zooey Deschanel wannabes, cause there's one act that'll pop up again and again no matter where (if at all) you reside in the great Indie-sphere: Kiиgs Of Coиvεиiεиcε, a modern Simon & Garfunkel type who play some of the dardnest pretty folk stuffz you'll ever have the pleasure of hearing.
2004's Rioτ Oи Aи Eмpτy Strεετ finds guitar/vocal duo Erlend Øye and Eirik Bøe plucking and harmonizing away (and occasionally bolstered behind via strings, drums, etc.) in a contemporary homage to everyone from America to *insert singer/songwriter here* who's taken a leaf out of the playbook of Antonio Carlos Jobim. Although the more singles-oriented out there probably know this record from dancier tracks like 'I'd Rather Dance With You' and 'Love Is No Big Truth', a smarter listener will delve in beyond those two and find the real gold therein. Tracks like 'Surprise Ice' and the heart-wincing melody driven 'Cayman Islands' could have been recorded at any time over the last forty years and still come out as blindsidingly gorgeous.
Great autumnal albums don't come 'round too often my friends, so take a gander and have your hearts be cured of sleeping miseries.
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