Norwegian-born, Sicily-based sunshine boy Erlend Øye never wears a bad tune on his sleeve, let alone a juvenile grin that’s more frequent on a man half his age.
Øye fronts the intermittently-on-hiatus Whitest Boy Alive, in addition to occupying one half of the most acoustically congruent duos for past decades, Kings of Convenience. The 44-year old has hopscotched Europe and South America in recent years with the verve of a nomadic Peter Pan, serenading intimate fanfares and making the sporadic festival appearance when he’s not writing.
Yet, when he is serenading, it never quite seems like it. Much of Øye’s deftness in performance seems like he’s longing for a lost time or celebrating a time no longer lived. And this privately performed (previously unreleased) track that’s played exclusively to his loved ones is the latter. He’s a man satirically questioning the visitors departing his home to go back to their routine pastures: “You’re leaving now, but I’ll be here in paradise.”
As the Syracuse summer fades on his abode, coastlines turn idle of foreign footsteps and friends become temporary acquaintances till their next visit. ‘Paradiso’ is how the romantic Øye bids his goodbyes.
Check out more underrated songs from the decade here.
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