Featured photo by Stian Andersen
Röyksopp may no be longer in the business of releasing full-length albums — 2014’s The Inevitable End was said to be their last — but that doesn’t mean they’ve abandoned music altogether. Instead, it appears they’ll be going the singles route.
Specifically, Röyksopp are delving into “a series of tracks that explores a counterpoint to the super-clean sound of modern electronic music.” “I think we would like to further our exploration into the analog world,” explained the band’s Svein Berge in a press release, “like the early years of electronic music, where synths and drum machines would be used in combination with more traditional acoustic and analog instruments.”
“The whole idea of us going away from the whole album concept was that we do have many musical expressions that we want to do,” expanded Torbjørn Brundtland. “One of them might be a club track, but we don’t necessarily want to do an album of it.”
Wouldn’t you know it, the two-piece’s first offering in this new series is indeed a club track. “Never Ever” is a bright, dance floor-ready affair that features additional contributions from fellow Norwegian pop songwriter Susanne Sundfør, who previously guested on the group’s Inevitable End cuts “Running to the Sea” and “Save Me”. Stream it up above.
Earlier this year, Röyksopp contributed the song “Bounty Hunters” to Rick Rubin’s EDM-themed Star Wars compilation.