It has been eight years since Röyksopp released what they had dubbed as their last ever album, The Inevitable End. The Norwegian synth-pop duo — comprised of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland — had promised to continue making music together, sprinkling a series of singles dug out of the archives, soundtracking a comedy theater show based on the work of Franz Kafka, contributing to Rick Rubin’s Star Wars Headspace compilation, but remained adamant that they had bid farewell to "the traditional album format.”
Now, Röyksopp has returned with not an album, but what they have described as "an expanded creative universe and a prodigious conceptual project," called Profound Mysteries. Having cryptically teased the project through a constellation of music videos and visualizers set to previous singles, "(Nothing But) Ashes...," and, "The Ladder," Röyksopp is finally giving the project a voice with its latest offering, "Impossible."
Arriving alongside yet another entrancing visual, this time courtesy of Jonathan Zawada who delivers a psychedelic constantly morphing amalgamation, Röyksopp's new single sees the duo get back to their classic sound with crunchy electro bass, bright trancey synths and a seductive vocal from Alison Goldfrapp to tie it all together.
The track is peak 00s-era synth-pop that will have you reminiscing about the days spent daydreaming to Air, Fischerspooner, Sneaker Pimps, Télépopmusik, Robyn, etc. without being bogged down in a thick layer of Y2K nostalgia.
“As human beings, what we don’t know vastly overshadows what we do know," Svein and Torbjørn say of their new concept project. "As teenagers, we would discuss our own fascination and preoccupation with the infinite and the impossible — the most profound mysteries of life.”
Watch the official visualizer for "Impossible," featuring Alison Goldfrapp, below, and dive deeper into the creative universe of Profound Mysteries through the online portal.
Profound Mysteries
1. (Nothing But) Ashes...
2. The Ladder
3. Impossible
4. This Time, This Place...
5. How The Flowers Grow
6. If You Want Me
7. There, Beyond The Trees
8. Breathe
9. The Mourning Sun
10. Press «R»
Photography: Stian Andersen