Riot on an Empty Street

Riot on an Empty Street
Studio album by Kings of Convenience
Released	21 June 2004
Recorded	September 2003–March 2004
Genre	Indie pop indie folk
Length	44:26
Label	Astralwerks
Producer	Kings of Convenience, Davide Bertolini
Kings of Convenience chronology
Versus (2001) Riot on an Empty Street (2004) Declaration of Dependence (2009)
Singles from Riot on an Empty Street
"Misread" / "The Build-Up" Released: 14 June 2004 "I'd Rather Dance with You" Released: 23 August 2004 "Know-How" / "Cayman Islands" Released: 21 February 2005

Riot on an Empty Street is the second album from Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience. It features two song collaborations with Canadian musician Feist. It peaked at number 2 in Norway, number 3 in Italy (staying in the chart for a year) and number 49 in the UK Albums Chart.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	71/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B+ [3]
The Guardian	[4]
The Independent	[5]
Mojo	[6]
NME	6/10 [7]
Pitchfork	7.3/10 [8]
Q	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Uncut	[11]

Riot on an Empty Street received largely positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71, based on 18 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". ^[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Eirik Glambek Bøe and Erlend Øye, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Homesick"		3:13
2.	"Misread"		3:08
3.	"Cayman Islands"		3:02
4.	"Stay Out of Trouble"		5:04
5.	"Know-How"	Eirik Glambek Bøe Erlend Øye Feist	3:58
6.	"Sorry or Please"		3:47
7.	"Love Is No Big Truth"		3:48
8.	"I'd Rather Dance with You"		3:29
9.	"Live Long"	lyrics: Are Glambek Bøe/Eirik Glambek Bøe/Erlend Øye	2:57
10.	"Surprise Ice"		4:23
11.	"Gold in the Air of Summer"		3:33
12.	"The Build-Up"	Eirik Glambek Bøe Erlend Øye Feist	4:05
Total length:			44:26

Japanese Edition (VJCP-68629) Bonus Tracks ^[12]

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Weight of My Words" (Four Tet Remix)	4:58
14.	"The Girl from Back Then" (Riton's Uber Jazz Mix)	3:06
15.	"Winning a Battle, Losing a War" (Andy Votel Mix)	4:24

Personnel

Kings of Convenience

• Erlend Øye - lead (6, 12), co-lead (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11) and harmony (5, 9, 10) vocals, guitar (7, 11, 12), steel string guitar (3, 4, 5, 10), electric guitar (1), bass (8), drums (5, 6, 8, 12), piano (8), banjo (6), trumpet (6), arrangement (4, 6)
• Eirik Glambek Bøe - lead (2, 5, 9, 10), co-lead (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11) and harmony (6) vocals, guitar (2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), nylon string guitar (1, 3, 4, 10), bass (8), piano (2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11), drums (7), arpeggios (11), percussion (8), banjo (7), arrangement (4, 6)

Additional personnel

• Feist - lead vocals [outro] (5, 12)
• Davide Bertolini - bass (7), upright bass (2, 4, 5, 6), bowed bass (11), arrangement (4, 6)
• Tobias Hett - viola (2, 4, 6, 8), arrangement (4, 6)
• Gary Peterson - trumpet (6), arrangement (6)
• Siri Hilmen - cello (2, 3), cello [outro] (4), arrangement (3, 4)
• Peter Kates - additional cymbals (8), hi-hat (8)
• John-Arild Suther - trombone (9, 11)
• Petter Alexander Olsen - creative consultant (9)

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [13]	Silver	60,000‡
United States	—	78,000 [14]
Summaries
Europe	—	400,000 [15]
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Reviews for Riot On An Empty Street by Kings of Convenience". Metacritic . Retrieved 10 November 2015.
2. Sendra, Tim. "Riot on an Empty Street – Kings of Convenience". AllMusic . Retrieved 10 November 2015.
3. Hiatt, Brian (6 August 2004). "Riot on an Empty Street". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
4. Clarke, Betty (18 June 2004). "Kings of Convenience, Riot on an Empty Street". The Guardian . Retrieved 10 November 2015.
5. Price, Simon (20 June 2004). "Kings of Convenience: Riot on an Empty Street (Source)". The Independent .
6. "Kings of Convenience: Riot on an Empty Street". Mojo : 114. Amid the album's fuzzy, halo'd mood, doe-eyed songs pop out like sweetbreads.
7. "Kings of Convenience: Riot on an Empty Street". NME : 57. 19 June 2004.
8. Mitchum, Rob (27 July 2004). "Kings of Convenience: Riot on an Empty Street". Pitchfork . Retrieved 10 November 2015.
9. "Kings of Convenience: Riot on an Empty Street". Q (217): 112. August 2004.
10. O'Connor, Rob (16 September 2004). "Kings Of Convenience: Riot On An Empty Street". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
11. "Kings of Convenience: Riot on an Empty Street". Uncut (86): 101. July 2004.
12. "Kings Of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street". Discogs.com. 30 June 2004. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
13. "British album certifications – Kings of Convenience – Riot on an Empty Street". British Phonographic Industry.
14. "Kings Of Convenience Make New 'Declaration'". Billboard . Billboard. 21 July 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
15. "Declaration of Dependence". Pitchfork .