Рёйксопп: История норвежского электронного дуэта

Norwegian electronic music duo

Röyksopp a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø formed in 1998. The duo consists of childhood friends Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland who formed Röyksopp during the Bergen Wave. After experimenting with different genres of electronic music, the band solidified their place in the electronica scene with their 2001 debut album, Melody A. M., released on the Wall of Sound record label. Röyksopp has consistently experimented with various genres pertaining to electronic music. Stylistically, the band makes use of various genres, including ambient, house music and synth pop. The band is also known for its elaborate concert performances, which often feature eccentric outfits. Since their 1998 debut, the duo has gained critical acclaim and popular success around the world. To date, Röyksopp has been nominated for two Grammy Awards, won seven Spellemannprisen awards, performed worldwide tours, and produced albums that have topped the charts in several countries, including four consecutive number one albums in their native country.

Røyksopp literally means "smoke mushroom" in English. It is the Norwegian word for the class of mushrooms known as puffball. The band's name replaces the second letter (ø) with ö, which is non existent in the Norwegian alphabet but corresponds to the same sound in the Swedish alphabet.

Berge and Brundtland were introduced to each other through a mutual friend in Tromsø, Norway, when Berge was 12 years old and Brundtland was 13. They enjoyed the same films and music, and shared an interest in electronics. The two began playing music together due to a shared interest in electronica, experimented with various forms of electronic music. The pair separated before obtaining any popular success with their music, but reunited with each other in 1998 in Bergen, Norway. had overtaken Tromsø's position as the most vital scene for underground electronic music in Norway, and Röyksopp worked with other Norwegian musicians like Frost, Those Norwegians, Drum Island, and Kings of Convenience's guitarist and singer Erlend Øye in what was called the Bergen Wave. In 1994 Aedena Cycle recorded a vinyl EP called Traveler's Dreams. Following the release of the EP, Jenssen almost convinced the band to sign a full record deal with Apollo Records. After being used in a UK T Mobile advertisement, "So Easy" became popular in the UK market

After leaving Tellé, the band signed with British label Wall of Sound and released Melody A. M., which became certified platinum in the band's native Norway and sold over a million copies worldwide. The album peaked at number one in Norway, was licensed by Apple Inc. for use as the welcome music to the company's Mac OS X Panther operating system, playing the first time a user booted a new Apple brand computer. The band's popularity was boosted by several graphically experimental music videos, many of which were put into heavy rotation by MTV. One year later they received a nomination for "Best Group" at the Brit Awards. During this time, Röyksopp were approached to compose the soundtrack for The Matrix Reloaded, although they declined the offer.

Röyksopp's second studio album, The Understanding, was released on 12 July 2005, preceded by the single "Only This Moment" on 27 June 2005. The video for "Only This Moment" is closely based on the events of the Paris 1968 riots, and elements of propaganda are found throughout the video clip. The album's second single, "49 Percent", with the vocals of Chelonis R. Jones was released on 26 September 2005. A third single, "What Else Is There? ", including vocals from Swedish singer Karin Dreijer of The Knife, and at number four in Norway. "Beautiful Day Without You" was the album's fourth single, and a non album track, "Curves", was also released. Building upon the success of Melody A. M., The Understanding was very successful in Europe. The album peaked at number one in Norway, and during the end credits of the 2006 British film Cashback, and "Circuit Breaker" was used in the 2007 snowboard film Picture This. On 19 June 2006, Röyksopp released a nine track live album called Röyksopp's Night Out. On 5 March 2007, Röyksopp compiled their favourite tracks by other artists for the Back to Mine series. Svein Berge also contributed as a board member for the celebration of the Grieg year, as Norway celebrated their famous composer Edvard Grieg. On the tenth anniversary of Röyksopp's formation—15 December 2008—the band released a new track, "Happy Birthday", free of charge to celebrate the event.

Röyksopp's third studio album, Junior, was released on 23 March 2009, featuring the single "Happy Up Here". Both the single and the video were met with positive reactions from the press and fans. "The Girl and the Robot", the second single from the album Junior, featuring vocals from Swedish singer Robyn, was released on 15 June 2009. The vinyl and digital versions of the single included remixes of the song by Kris Menace, Chateau Marmont and Spencer & Hill. "This Must Be It" is the third single from the album, including vocals from Swedish singer Karin Dreijer of The Knife and Fever Ray. The single also featuring remixes by Thin White Duke, LehtMoJoe, Rex the Dog and Apparat, among others. Junior was a success around the world. The album peaked at number one in Norway, the band's third consecutive release to do so. Junior also peaked at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart and charted on many Billboard charts, including the Billboard 200–the first Röyksopp release to do so–where it peaked at number 126. Junior was followed by Senior, which is more quiet, "withdrawn and introspective" and "create[s] an atmosphere and an ambiance". Senior is the duo's first album to consist solely of instrumental tracks. The first single from the album, "The Drug", was released on 9 August 2010. and was successful in the band's native Norway, peaking at number one, the band's fourth consecutive release to do so. The single was released on 16 December 2013, with a B side containing a song called "Something in My Heart", featuring Jamie McDermott from The Irrepressibles. Röyksopp and Sundfør also collaborated in creating a cover version of Depeche Mode's "Ice Machine" for their Late Night Tales compilation album, Late Night Tales: Röyksopp. On 14 April 2014, Röyksopp announced a collaborative EP with Robyn titled Do It Again to coincide with their joint tour. A snippet of one of the five tracks set to be released on the album, "Monument", was released the same day. The album was released on 26 May through Dog Triumph, Wall of Sound, and Cooking Vinyl. The duo stated that a re worked version of "Monument" would form a part of their next album. On 29 September 2014, Röyksopp announced that their next album, titled The Inevitable End, would explore "darker subject matter with emphasis on the lyrical content", and would be their last LP, though they will not stop making music. The album was released on 7 November 2014 by Dog Triumph. The special edition of the album includes new versions of the previously released tracks "Running to the Sea", "Do It Again" and "Monument" as well as the original version of "Something in My Heart". Some singles did precede the release of the album: "Skulls", "Sordid Affair" and the new version of "Monument". "Skulls" and "Monument" were accompanied by two new video clips. The video for "I Had This Thing" was shared on 11 May 2015. In early 2015, it was announced that the band had composed a musical accompaniment to a comedic work based upon the novels of Franz Kafka. The project debuted at the Bergen International Festival in the same year. On 8 February 2016, Röyksopp announced that a new track titled "Bounty Hunters" would be included on the Star Wars Headspace compilation. The album was released on 19 February 2016. On 9 September 2016, Röyksopp released a new song, in collaboration with Susanne Sundfør, called "Never Ever". Additional remixes of the song have been released between February and April 2017, including Röyksopp's own club mix.

In February 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing B sides, exclusives and previously unreleased tracks through the Lost Tapes playlist, starting with "I Wanna Know" and "Rising Urge". The tracks have been released for free on music streaming services, including Spotify and YouTube, but are also sold in digital stores like Amazon and the iTunes Store. In August 2019, Röyksopp released a collaborative single with Lars Vaular, called "To minutter". The band kept releasing new Lost Tapes until 25 January 2021, when they announced the project has come to a halt for the time being. In August 2021, the physical edition of Lost Tapes was announced for release on 17 September 2021. It contains the first 10 tracks from the series and is available on vinyl, CD and cassette.

At the end of 2021, the band launched a new Instagram account which led to speculation of new music. Through a series of teasers with the tagline "Press R" on social media and snippets of new material on the redesigned official website, the band confirmed a new project would be released in 2022, titled Profound Mysteries. Röyksopp described the "conceptual project" as an "expanded creative universe" and a "continuous, holistic experience", suggesting the release of three albums in 2022 (listed on the website as red, yellow and green). Each release in the series was accompanied by a series of short films from multiple directors and AI generated "artefacts" and visualisers by an Australian artist Jonathan Zawada. The two new songs were officially released in January 2022, "(Nothing But) Ashes " and "The Ladder", followed by "Impossible" (featuring Alison Goldfrapp) in February. The Profound Mysteries album was released on 29 April 2022, with the band hosting a livestream of the album, followed by a tease of the next album and snippets of new music on the official website. On 14 June 2022, the band released "Sorry", featuring Jamie Irrepressible as a lead single for Profound Mysteries II. At the same time the album became available for pre order with "Unity", featuring Karen Harding available alongside it. A collection of remixes was also released. The second album was released on 19 August 2022, with the band once again hosting a YouTube event and teasing the next album, officially confirming the trilogy. A number of individual songs were released in a run up to the third and final album, starting with "Speed King" and "The Night" in August 2022. Profound Mysteries III was released on 18 November 2022 and features collaborations with Jamie Irrepressible, Alison Goldfrapp, Susanne Sundfør and Astrid S, among other artists. The series has been also released on vinyl for the first time, as 6LP boxset featuring all three albums and individual 2LP releases. In 2023, the duo embarked on a headline tour and continued to release new remixes of the tracks from the Profound Mysteries series. The True Electric tour began in February 2023, with shows in European cities, including Stockholm, London and Berlin. The band described the tour as "energetic beats meet vast, transcending soundscapes" and explained their wish to bring "the pure and immersive Röyksopp experience" of studio productions to the stage. The shows were followed by appearances at various summer festivals in Europe including Bilbao BBK Live and Rock Werchter. The band continued their headline tour in autumn 2023 with 16 concerts in North America and Europe.

Röyksopp's music is often referred to as "warm", The Understanding features Kate Havnevik, Chelonis R. Jones, and Karin Dreijer, and Junior features Robyn, Anneli Drecker, Karin Dreijer, and Lykke Li. Röyksopp enjoy using classic synthesizers, including the monophonic Korg MS 20, the polyphonic Roland Juno 106, and multiple members of the Akai Sampler Series. When performing live, the duo often appear in eccentric outfits. Ari Stein, of Electronic Beats, said, that during one particular live set, "Röyksopp returned with two separate encores, one which included Berge playing "Eple" with a space suit capsule on his head".

In addition to sales success, Röyksopp has garnered generally positive reception from many music critics. The band has also been nominated for many prestigious awards, including multiple Spellemannprisens and a Grammy. The tracks "What Else Is There?" and "Eple" were chosen among the top 500 tracks of the decade by Pitchfork Media and placed in 375th and 336th place respectively. Another track written by Röyksopp, Annie's "Heartbeat", was placed 17th on the same list. On 24 November 2009, Melody A. M. was named the best Norwegian album of the decade by Norway's largest newspaper, Verdens Gang. The Understanding came 5th on the same list. However, some criticism has been aimed at the repetitive nature of the band and the trip hop genre in general. Robert Christgau said that, "chill out tends toward waiting room music for plastic surgeons who really want you to order that butt implant. Where once [Röyksopp] were extolled for their subtle melodicism, here their schlock candidly attacks the jugular. If they're Air, Goldie was Tricky." Pitchfork Media, in their review of Senior, said that "the kind of downtempo stuff that makes up the majority of Röyksopp's vocal less compositions just doesn't hold up to concentrated, repeated listens like many other forms of instrumental electronic music."

Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref. (Reference)2001Spellemannprisen Best Music Video "Eple" Best Electronic Album Melody A. M. Spellemann Special Award Röyksopp Alarmprisen Best Pop Melody A. M. Best House/Techno Melody A. M. 2005 Spellemannprisen Best Pop Group Röyksopp 2006 Alarmprisen Best Club The Understanding 2009 Grammy Awards Best Remixed Recording, Non Classical "The Girl and the Robot" (Jean Elan Remix) Best Electronic Album Junior Spellemannprisen Hit of the Year "Running to the Sea" 2014Spellemannprisen Best Pop Group Röyksopp Best Composer Do It Again & The Inevitable End Swedish Grammy Awards Video of the Year "Monument" Video of the Year "Sayit" 2016 P3 Gull P3 Prize Röyksopp