Royksopp (Band) life and biography

Röyksopp: Pioneers of Norwegian Electronic Music

Röyksopp is a well known electronic music duo which formed in 1998 in Tromsø, Norway.

The Formation and Early Years

The band currently based in Bergen, Norway, consists of Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge. Both members are songwriters, producers and remixers.

They usually rely on the use of other vocalists for their songs and occasionally they perform the vocal parts. The Norwegian word "røyksopp" means puffball fungus (literally "smoke mushroom").

Their early mentor was none other than Geir Jenssen, also known as Biosphere, a local success story. During this formative period, Brundtland and Berge joined forces with two other musicians, forming the group Aedena Cycle. Their music journey took off.

Brundtland and Berge were schoolmates in their hometown Tromsø, experimenting with electronic instruments in the early 90s and being a part of their city’s techno scene. As they grew up in northern Norway, they listened to local artists like Bel Canto and Biosphere. The band has also expressed their interest in the music of Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, Giorgio Moroder, Art Of Noise, Vangelis, Erik Satie, and Francis Lai. They were members of various electro acts in their youth, such as Alanïa, Drum Island and Aedena Cycle. After recording as part of Aedena Cycle, Berge and Brundtland left the group to form their own band, Röyksopp.

In 8 October 2001, Röyksopp released their debut album Melody A.M. on Wall Of Sound label. This critically acclaimed downtempo album reached #1 in Norway charts, #9 in UK Albums Chart, #18 in US Top Electronic Albums.

International Success

The sound was a big hit with the advertising world and tracks were co-opted for a variety of products including a Apple, an insurance group and broadcasters in the US and the UK. With their taste for experimentation extending to their videos, they won an MTV Europe award for "Remind Me" from their second album The Understanding.

The band's skills as producers have been utilized with remixes for Beck, Coldplay and Peter Gabriel and they were invited to do a compilation album for the Back To Mine series in 2006.

Later Albums and Experiments

The British big beat label reissued "Eple," which along with another track, "Poor Leno," earned slots on over a dozen chillout compilations that year and the next. Röyksopp's debut album, Melody A.M., expanded on their smooth mix of trip-hop, disco, and electronic pop and featured vocal cameos by Erlend Øye and Bel Canto's Anneli Drecker.

Melody A.M. was also an international hit: it went platinum in the Netherlands and the U.K., where it spawned several Top 40 hits. In the U.S., it reached number 18 on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, and the single "Remind Me" was used in a popular Geico car insurance commercial.

In 2002, the video for "Remind Me" won a Spellemannprisen as well as an MTV Europe Music Award, and Röyksopp were nominated for a Brit Award for Best International Group the following year.

The Understanding expanded on Melody A.M.'s success, once again topping the chart in Norway and debuting at number 13 in the U.K., where it was certified gold. In the States, the set reached number two on Billboard's Top Electronic albums chart.

Though Röyksopp were seemingly finished with albums in the traditional sense, they continued to work on varied projects, including the music for Kafta feat. Röyksopp and a series of jingles for the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK's TV news division.

Though they shied away from typical album-based releases after 2014's majestically melancholy supposed farewell The Inevitable End, Röyksopp continued to issue music in the form of singles, mixes, and collections such as 2021's Lost Tapes.

In 2022, Röyksopp marked their return to the album format in a grand way with the ambitious and highly collaborative three-volume series, Profound Mysteries I, II, and III.

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