Royksopp: The Understanding : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

On Royksopp's second album, the Norwegian electropop duo delivers twelve songs of downbeat paranoia, by turns frantic and tired, jittery and soothing. Hailing from the land of the midnight sun, far north of the Arctic Circle, the two know something about days and nights that last forever, breeding mania and depression in equal measure. The leadoff track, "Triumphant," begins with a simple piano line before swelling to a creepy choral crescendo. On the album's first single, "Only This Moment," about the fear of losing a relationship, the vocalist sings, "Deep down inside, I know our love will die," over steadily accelerating blips and skitters. By the time you reach the impossibly dreamy "Dead to the World," exhaustion has finally kicked in. If the band's previous album, 2001's million-selling Melody A.M., evoked the early-morning afterglow of a night out clubbing, The Understanding captures that night that just won't end.