Royksopp: Melody A.M. : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Royksopp assimilate everything from Fifties orchestral pop to slivers of classic rock, then morph it into a spooky downbeat ethereality that's almost as lovely and desolate as the nights in their hometown of Tromso, Norway. The quintessentially brooding "A Higher Place" is awash with phosphorescent synth chords and a stinging guitar loop, and "Eple" is built around a bleepy Morse-code riff that builds slowly into a catchy electropop shuffle. Royksopp show a debt to art rock, but they replace Pink Floyd's paranoia with a mood of late-night sorrow. This is the Scandinavian homesick blues.

PAT BLASHILL
(RS 908 - October 31, 2002)