Röyksopp – Profound Mysteries II
Earlier this year, Röyksopp unveiled Profound Mysteries, a planned series of three albums accompanied by a collection of short films, visuals, and a cryptic website designed “to trigger your imagination – to get your senses going,” according to Sven Berge. The scope of the project has been gargantuan; inspired by Röyksopp’s “own fascination and preoccupation with the infinite and the impossible – the most profound mysteries of life.” A project of this magnitude seemed like a natural progression following their denouncement of the traditional LP format in 2014 and their focus on alternative release strategies. Their LP releases, had after all, been markedly less interesting than their side projects, collaborations, and EPs. After months of ambiguous teasing, Profound Mysteries part one would eventually arrive in April, yet for all the resplendent presentation, there was somewhat of a disconnect between the music and multimedia. They were not intrinsic to each other in the way we might have expected, but rather the overall concept of Profound Mysteries had a different purpose. It freed Röyksopp from the expectations of the traditional LP format while allowing them to, for the most part, release a traditional LP. The resulting Profound Mysteries album was easily their most cohesive long form body of work in recent memory, due largely to Röyksopp’s introspective return to their ambient-adjacent roots and jagged machine funk. In contrast, Profound Mysteries II shifts the gaze outward, looking toward ideas and influences detached from Röyksopp themselves.
Download and stream Profound Mysteries Part II here
The second instalment in the series is informed by the styles, sounds, and artists who ultimately shaped Röyksopp in their formative years. In Berge’s own words, “…you’ll notice the heavy references. We’ve always had that in our music, but this time it’s more blatant.” He’s not wrong. The UKG breaks and bass of Unity, for instance, is immediately striking, albeit very un-Röyksopp. There’s post-punk melancholy in the key of Depeche Mode on Sorry, and 90’s informed tech house on Control. While satisfyingly sticky and propulsive, it’s this latter track that ultimately reveals the fatal flaw at the core of the album. Control, by all accounts, is paint-by-numbers tech in the vein of Brejcha. In essence; it’s unoriginal and lacks Röyksopp’s distinct point of view. They’re not so much paying homage to their references, rather they’re cosplaying them. Coming from a duo responsible for some of the most innovative sounding tech in recent years (Say It says hi), it’s disappointing. Similarly, when they lapse into Cinematic Orchestra style sentiment on Tristesse Globale’s inferior shadow Remembering The Departed, it feels forced or put on. Even when they’re in their own wheelhouse, like on the synthwave finale Some Resolve, something feels derivative. It’s the sort of loose ended, spacey synth opera that could be by anyone from Kavinsky to Perturbator, lacking the sense of originality that would otherwise make a track like this distinctly Röyksopp (Only This Moment and Monument also say hi).
As was the case with part one, the visual material doesn’t do much to bolster the music. In this case, perhaps a stronger and more conceptually integrated visual component would have helped the music make more sense in the scope of the project. Profound Mysteries II’s best bits are the ones where Röyksopp sound like Röyksopp, but even then the music here is haunted by the ghosts of similar ideas executed better elsewhere on their discography. They return to the trip-hop and electro-funk of The Understanding on Denimclad Baboons. They return to frequent collaborator Susan Sundfør on arguably the best song on the album, Oh, Lover. It’s the sort of glacial, forlorn Nordic synthpop that only Röyksopp can formulate, and proves that they’re at their best when they’re being themselves.
Watch the updated Profound Mysteries continuous visual experience, including music from Profound Mysteries II, below.
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