Understanding, The - Royksopp

...later.

The Understanding, like Melody AM and Moon Safarii, starts with the most haunting dittie on the album, Triumphant, with a gentle piano, simple chord progressions and more than a glancing nod to Beethoven's Moonnlight Sonata (also one of my faves!)

I imagine if Brian Eno had produced Tubular Bells it would have sounds like this and we seem settled for Melody AM Part II….(Perhaps Melody PM would have been good?)
...newer, more popsical Royksopp with lead single Only This Moment, featuring new vocalist Kate Havnevik,

Circuit Breaker could be Duran Duran with its 'Girls on Film' drum and bass.(Although its not 'drum and bass' if you get my drift!)

But also in this vein we also have a couple of tracks like 49 Percent which sound like Erasure cast-offs or Prince b-sides..circa 1989.

Luckily the album is punctiuated ... more

Royksopp. ......What a 'nice' word!

Its not as nice as 'sinnesapplesap' (which is Dutch for 'orange juice' and my all time favourite word every ever ever….try saying it without smiling!) but pretty damn close. (Oh c'mon stay with me on this one!)

It's impossible to listen to 'Royksopp' , the sound of the word, or the sound the Nordic pop band make without thoughts of aurora. glacial landscapes, big blue eyes and outdoor dance parties in the middle of nowhere. (Or was that just a strange dream I had?)

To fully enjoy this album, or this review for that matter, (you may have gathered) one needs to be chilled out, not just 'comfy' cardigan laid-back but 'swimming with dolphins in your head' spaced. - As spaced perhaps as the dancing girl jigging by an organ on the CD cover.

As we can't spend all our time in such a fantasy, just relax in the hazy sunset, turn on your lava lamp and let these Norwegian chill out popsters paint a mystical soundscape to take you somewhere special.

Of course in a perfect world it would be 4am and you would be driving home after a fantastic Nordic rave, with the sun rising on deserted roads, with some beautiful personage falling asleep besides you. But lets stick to 'chilled out' for the moment..!

When the duo, Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge, hit the mark (as they frequently do) they do indeed send an arrow of love into the bullseye of whimsical horizontal pop-land.

When they don't…. they do too, but it just takes a little more imagination. (Oh keep up with me on this one Ciaosters!)

Gratifyingly most of The Understanding is gorgeous, a full icy aural massage with warm dollops of melody to melt the most sceptical heart.

The duo's first album Melody AM was the first CD I bought on my return to England (along with an Ash greatest hits) after living abroad and therefore has special significance for me. (Although the Ash CD was good too!)

They (Royksopp, not Ash) were the new boys of the dance block and had not yet become remixers of choice for multimillion sellers such as Coldplay and The Streets like they are now.

They were yet to support Basement Jaxx and Moby, sell more than a million CDs (Gosh, that must have been some huge market stall! lol) and play in front of thousands.

I first heard one of their ditties in an ad for a mobile phone company (you know the one, that had pics of babies everywhere!) and decided I needed to know Royksopp. I did…and my life was made very slightly better by the experience.

So therefore, musicologists, I have established a love of Royksopp is a 'good thing' to have…Melody AM established the band as a good thing.

Before The Understanding came out I remember a reviewer said this album had so much riding on it that it ought to be gobbling coke-spiked sugar lumps prior to the 3.30 at Newmarket - (Or words to that effect!)

I think this isn't too wide of the mark.

Dance acts are notorious for difficult second albums. Look at fellow laid-back popsters Air for example.

I reviewed their amazing Moon Safari on this website, but they didn't hit form again until Talkie Walkie, several albums later.

The Understanding, like Melody AM and Moon Safarii, starts with the most haunting dittie on the album, Triumphant, with a gentle piano, simple chord progressions and more than a glancing nod to Beethoven's Moonnlight Sonata (also one of my faves!)

I imagine if Brian Eno had produced Tubular Bells it would have sounds like this and we seem settled for Melody AM Part II….(Perhaps Melody PM would have been good?)

But no Ciaosters, we soon get the newer, more popsical Royksopp with lead single Only This Moment, featuring new vocalist Kate Havnevik,

Circuit Breaker could be Duran Duran with its 'Girls on Film' drum and bass.(Although its not 'drum and bass' if you get my drift!)

But also in this vein we also have a couple of tracks like 49 Percent which sound like Erasure cast-offs or Prince b-sides..circa 1989.

Luckily the album is punctiuated by more serene and, dare I say it for such a young band, vintage Royksopp such as Sombre Detunr, with a crisp beat hugged by swirling synths

What Else Is There - fronted by the sublime Bjork-ish Karin Dreijer from techno popsters The Knife, is the closest they come to being the 'Nordic Air' and it's the best track here - conjuring up images of a wide-eyed sunrise after a hard night's stargazing or ecstasy fuelled clubbing.

We also get the proof they don't take themselves too seriously with Beautiful Day Without You -Could this be a homage to U2? Could a band be any less-U2-ish? (Answers on a postcard Ciaosters!)

The album rounds off with the more ambient and Moby-like tracks such as Alpha Male - Which I could imagine listening to while sitting on a coach, looking over a bleak 80s Eastern European industrial landscape. (But that's just me!)

While Dead To The World - is a dream like narcolepsy so relaxing it should be available on prescription to Football Managers, meat market salesmen and put-upon journos alike.

So people who liked Melody AM will like this and if this first album didn't float your boat then….. you need to find a new dingy!

This is a more direct album, less stand-out singles, more space to breath, more pop, more edge… But that does mean a couple of weak links. (Ann Robinson would love that eh?)

But I look at these as small clumps of acne on the face of a blossoming teenager or times to rise from that dip in the Nordic hot mud to feel the cold against one's face before submerging again in sonic substance….(Make allowances for me.. Ciaosters I am enjoying myself here!)

So is there a masterplan…What is there to 'understand'?

The band typically enigmatic in an interview on their website say they will explain the album in a press conference in Asia in time.Until then, it us for us to interpret it ourselves.

When asked which album they themselves prefer Svein said:"It's like trying to compare two testicles. One is not better than the other. Both are vital to the Röyksopp anatomy."

I think this is the sound of a band thriving on a cocktail of Eno and Kraftwerk, Can, Prince and Air and growing up in front of our ears.

I just wish they would call a future album sinnesapplesap! It would make this reviewer very happy!

Understanding was released on the 4th July 2005 (Wall Of Sound).

Track details….

1. Triumphant
2. Only This Moment
3. 49 Percent
4. Sombre Detune
5. Follow My Ruin
6. Beautiful Day Without You
7. What Else Is There
8. Circuit Breaker
9. Alpha Male
10. Someone Like Me
11. Dead To The World
12. Tritesse Globale
 

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