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Album reviews Music

Royksopp

Royksopp – The Inevitable End

It’s hard to decide what to make of Royksopp’s announcement that their fifth record will also be their final studio album. The Norwegian duo have since clarified that they will still work together, just not within the album framework. But the dark mood haunting much of the material on The Inevitable End suggests that there’s more going on than just an interest in other formats. Their enigmatic comments in interviews about inner turmoil and mortality do little to dispel that impression.

Even though the songs are full of warm analog synths, a strong sense of cold melancholy and anxiety permeates even the most upbeat electro-pop moments. These aren’t the kinds of songs you’d want to relax with after clubbing, and that seems like a deliberate push-back against the chill-out tag they sometimes get saddled with. It’s a downer album, but I wish they’d fully committed to the gloom instead of attempting to lighten it with dated trance-pop fluff like Running To The Sea.

Top track: Compulsion

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