entangle: (verb)
involve (someone) in difficulties or complicated circumstances
from which it is difficult to escape.
ARTIST.....: Royksopp
TITLE......: Gentle Movement (Lost Tapes)
LABEL......: Pod / Inertia Music
CATNUM.....: DOG035
GENRE......: House
RIP DATE...: 2020-04-05
RETAIL DATE: 2020-04-01
RUNTIME....: 06:10
TRACKS.....: 1
SIZE.......: 14.4MB
QUALITY....: 320kbps 44.1kHz
CODEC......: MP3 (MPEG-2 Audio Layer III)
ENCODER....: LAME
URL........: https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=Bqfby3mpxpdavmer5tw57ilrqzi
Tracklist:
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01. Gentle Movement (Lost Tapes) 06:10
Notes:
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Since they first burst onto the scene with the release of their
classic debut album Melody A.M back in 2001, Norwegian electronic
music overlords Royksopp have only released three additional
studio albums. First came 2005's more experimental The
Understanding, then 2009's extrovert, pop-lead Junior followed
swiftly by its more introvert sister album, Senior in 2010. Four
years later, following a burst of creativity instigated by
personal upheaval and the general living of lives, Royksopp are
now about to release their second album in the space of six
months. Following Do It Again, their critically acclaimed
collaborative mini-album with fellow Scandinavian legend Robyn,
the duo will now release The Inevitable End. "We feel there's a
lot of music out there that just doesn't have any identity -
something that we really strive for in our music," says Torbjorn
of the time it takes between releases. "We don't feel like we're
in any hurry; we intend to make music we cannot find elsewhere -
which is both ambitious and time consuming" agrees Svein. "And we
also want our music to have longevity, therefore we always seek
to produce and engineer it in a way that steers clear of generic
production trends."As with most things Royksopp do there is a
multi-faceted reason behind the album's title, The Inevitable
End. While they're keen to point out that it doesn't mark the end
of Royksopp, they do see it as their final album. "We feel like
this is a goodbye to the traditional album format," explains
Svein. "In our consecutive run of albums, we have been able to
say what we want to say and do what we want to do with the LP.
We're not going to stop making music, but the album format as
such, this is the last thing from us." Having now created five
complete bodies of work, the pair feel like the future is open to
being more experimental with how they share their music, be it
with EPs, one-off singles or something more visually focused.
"With Melody AM we felt like we established our own voice and
take on electronic music. Then, with The Understanding, we wanted
to move slightly off-center and experiment more - without losing
what is uniquely identified as Royksopp. With Junior we wanted to
be a bit more extroverted, focusing on vocals and youthful
energy. With Senior, we wanted to flip it around completely;
instrumental, introverted and hidden," continues Svein. "With The
Inevitable End we've moved into a darker subject matter, with
emphasis on the lyrical content. This candid approach feels both
very personal, sincere and conclusive." "With this album it
became clear we wanted to make an album in a classical sense even
if it's the last one we make," adds Torbjorn. With a story
running from the opening, fuzzy electronics of "Skulls" - with
its teasing "if you want to ride" mantra - to the closing, fan-
dedicated "Thank You", this is an album to be enjoyed from start
to finish; a complete story that takes you from A to Z.The title
also relates to the album's core themes of loss (be it emotional
or physical), the passing of different eras in people's lives and
the effects of conflicting emotions, themes that are showcased
exquisitely in "Monument (T.I.E. Version)", the epic
collaboration with Robyn that acts as bridge between Do It Again
and The Inevitable End. Re-worked for this album, its power is
even more magnetic. "I think it's fair to say that the two
records are dwelling on the same themes. This album has a strong
lyrical content and I think that's more evident than on any of
our other albums - I guess writing songs and working closely with
Robyn has had an effect," says Svein. "Without being too gloomy
or dark, there's been turmoil in our lives. And prior to making
Do It Again, Robyn was in a similar space, which is one of the
reasons why we're so compatible." With the two records being
worked on simultaneously, The Inevitable End may share a similar
headspace to Do It Again, but this is very much a
quintessentially Royksopp album, even if that definition is
itself brilliantly malleable. "We're always looking to push
certain boundaries, but there's something there that's been there
all the time and that binds it altogether," explains Torbjorn.
"We're not keen on repeating ourselves."So while the opening
track "Skulls" feels like a classic Royksopp song - all squelchy
bass lines, filtered synths and vocodered, yet soulful vocals -
the album also takes in sophisticated, delicate heartbreak on the
Man Without Country collaboration "Sordid Affair"; odd, shape-
shifting ambience on the Robyn-featuring "Rong"; bouncing electro
pop on the deceptively upbeat "Save Me" (featuring regular
contributor Susanne Sundfor on vocal duties) and the deliriously
sad, cry-on-the-dancefloor classic, "I Had This Thing", one of
four collaborations with Jamie Irrepressible. In fact, as with
all their albums, the importance of picking the right vocalist
for each song was paramount. "We always want to find the right
voice matching the specific sentiment of a track," states Svein.
"And the people we've been fortunate enough to work with, are
people who not only possess brilliant vocal abilities
individually - they also in their own unique way, bring their own
universe with them," he continues. "We are inviting them to
collide their universe into ours. It's not about having a voice
for hire. We want the people we work with to feel like they can
involve themselves to the fullest - it's about finding the
perfect voice for our state of mind," adds Torbjorn.At the core
of the album is this universal sense of conflicting emotions and
choice; in pursuit of fulfillment, how far can you go? Should one
heed one's conscience or succumb to one's desires - albeit the
moral ramifications? And then there's doubt and denial. And the
battle between reason and desire, that's summed up perfectly on
"I Had This Thing" as Jamie softly flits between the lines "I
still don't know just what I've done" and the emotional final
mantra of "I never meant to let you go" while a cavalcade of
electronic textures descends around him. But while the lyrics
deal with darker themes, this isn't a musically introspective
album. This is a cohesive, fully realized electronic symphony
from a pair of production geniuses constantly looking to
innovate. "Senior, for example, is very introspective; both
secret and raw production-wise. The Inevitable End, on the other
hand, has a very clean and crisp production in comparison,"
explains Svein. "We wanted this pristine surface to act as a
contrast to the grittier subject matter that lies beneath. At
first listen, one might get the impression that T.I.E is a place
of solace and bliss. But if you pay attention to the lyrics,
you'll tap into the somber undercurrent running through it all -
as if the music is bleeding. This is not a dance album at all.
This is home listening as far as we're concerned. It's headphones
music." All you need do is pop them on, sit back and let Royksopp
take you into their own special world again.