Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø, formed in 1998. Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland were introduced at a friend’s house when they were 12 and 13 years old respectively, and started experimenting with electronic instruments in the early 1990s as part of the local techno scene. The pair separated before obtaining any popular success with their music, but reunited with each other in 1998 in Bergen, Norway. During this time, the duo befriended Geir Jenssen. Under the tutelage of Jenssen, the duo started a band called Aedena Cycle with Gaute Barlindhaug and Kolbjørn Lyslo. In 1994 Aedena Cycle recorded a vinyl EP called ‘Traveler’s Dreams’. Following the release of the EP, Jenssen almost convinced the band to sign a full record deal with Apollo Records.
However, they decided to form their own band, and that became Röyksopp. Their debut single ‘So Easy’ became popular in the UK market when it was used in an advert for T-Mobile. Their debut album ‘Melody A.M.’ (2001) went platinum in Norway and sold over a million copies worldwide. The singles ‘Eple’, ‘Poor Leno’ and ‘Remind Me’ became hits in the UK. The music video for ‘Remind Me’, featuring an infographic-style video by French company H5, won the 2002 MTV Europe Music Award for best music video.
Röyksopp’s second studio album, ‘The Understanding’, was released in July 2005. Building upon the success of ‘Melody A.M.’, ‘The Understanding’ was very successful in Europe. The album peaked at number one in Norway, and at number 13 in the UK. During this time, Röyksopp’s popularity continued to increase in the United States. The album charted on many specialized Billboard charts.
On 19 June 2006, Röyksopp released a nine-track live album called ‘Röyksopp’s Night Out’. It was followed in March 2007 by a compilation of their favourite tracks for the ‘Back To Mine’ series. On the tenth anniversary of Röyksopp’s formation—15 December 2008—the band released a new track, ‘Happy Birthday’, for free to celebrate the event. The song was released for free streaming on the band’s website.
Röyksopp’s third studio album, ‘Junior’, was released in March 2009. It was a success around the world. The album peaked at number one in Norway, the band’s third consecutive release to do so. ‘Junior’ also peaked at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart. ‘Junior’ was followed by ‘Senior’, the duo’s first album to consist solely of instrumental tracks. During live shows in 2010 and 2011, Röyksopp performed a cover version of Wuthering Heights, but they never recorded the song in the studio.
On 14 April 2014, Röyksopp announced a collaborative EP with Robyn titled ‘Do It Again’ to coincide with their joint tour. A snippet of one of the five tracks set to be released on the album, ‘Monument’, was released the same day. The album was released on 26 May. The duo stated that a re-worked version of ‘Monument’ would form a part of their next album. In September 2014, Röyksopp announced that their next album, titled ‘The Inevitable End’, would explore “darker subject matter with emphasis on the lyrical content”, and would be their last LP, though they will not stop making music.
Since then they have composed musical accompaniment to a comedic work based upon the novels of Franz Kafka and a set of jingles for the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, intended for the NRK Nyheter news division, as part of a comprehensive redesign of the sub-brand. In 2016, Röyksopp recorded a new track titled ‘Bounty Hunters’ for the Star Wars Headspace compilation and a new song in collaboration with Susanne Sundfør, called ‘Never Ever’.