Röyksopp The Understanding

Röyksopp, a two-man band from Norway, did a very cool but sort of repetitive album called Melody A.M.in 2002. It had two great songs, plus one pretty-good song, and while the rest didn't suck, it didn't really work, either.




Their new one, called The Understanding, is much, MUCH cooler.

There are shades of everything from Air to Jean-Michel Jarre on this disc... Röyksopp may be Norwegian, but they've clearly listened to a lot of French electronica, both old and new. This album's a lot more song-oriented than Melody A.M., and while the overall mood is less cohesive, the individual tracks are GREAT. I think it's a worthy tradeoff. Favorite tracks: Circuit Breaker, Triumphant, Alpha Male(this is the one that reminds me the most of Jean-Michel Jarre, in its early parts, and then goes on to become my favorite song from the album).