Artful ashes how to#
Artful ashes trial#

Artful ashes trial#

So we put up a sort of a framework: how can we best convey those feeling, that sentiment, that emotion? How can we communicate that in music and what kind of instruments should we use? It’s an organic process it’s a bit trial and error. It’s obviously something Torbjørn and I have developed over the years because we’ve known each other since we were kids. It’s all very abstract and reference-heavy when we have that language. We usually have a big cardboard sort of canvas on one of the walls, and we just jot down ideas and thoughts. The way we tend to work is that we use a mind map. We make a track designated to the part where it belongs so the creative process has been ongoing. SB: Both albums have been made simultaneously. Given that it’s a sequel, was approaching this album different from others? It’s not something that we thought, “Oh it will be very lucrative for us to emulate this style.” It just comes natural to us. Torbjørn Brundtland: As you say Sven, we don’t know if we succeed in this, but we feel confident in a sense because we know where it comes from-it comes from our hearts. When we make a reference to the German band Kraftwerk, we make sure to put other things into that track so it doesn’t become only Kraftwerk-it becomes something else. When we do those references, we try to make it so that the listener understands that this is praise it’s not us trying to siphon off on whatever somebody did before us. The most dangerous part is if it becomes a pastiche or a bleak copy of something that’s already been made. You need it to be just so much that those in the know get it but, at the same time, you want people who don’t necessarily get the reference to appreciate it. I’m not too keen on the term esoteric but it’s kind of what it is.

Artful ashes how to#

SB: It’s all about balance and how to play it.

Was it difficult to strike a balance between creating thoughtful nods versus being too similar? Part two is also suffused with tributes to the artists that played a role in shaping your taste and identities. by Stian Andersen courtesy of the artists Personally, I imagine sitting in a dimly lit room with headphones on enjoying part one, whereas the second one you might enjoy in the company of others, possibly on a loud speaker. It has a very clear narrative in our mind-the way we present the music to the world and how it’s been constructed on the album. It has a stronger presence, it’s more inviting, more striking, more, perhaps, immediate. The first part we tend to call more of an introspective, perhaps secretive thing and in comparison, the second part is more open.

I think it’s possibly the one with the strongest conceptual ideas and possibly the most focused thing we have done as well. Also, in sheer mass-like the volume of it. Svein Berge: It’s clearly the most ambitious thing that ‎Torbjørn and I have ever been done in terms of music. How does part two pick up from where part one left off? Profound Mysteries was a sort of re-emergence for Röyksopp. by Angelina Bergenwal, courtesy of the artists We spoke with Berge and Brundtland about the importance of pondering, crafting new listening experiences and how the album looks to their past and future. With its abundant allusions to inspiring icons (including Fleetwood Mac, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk and more), the album channels the duo’s inquisitive bones. Vocals from Astrid S, Allison Goldfrapp, Susanne Sundfør and more feature on the project that also comprises visuals and “artefacts” by Australian artist Jonathan Zawada which accompany each track-as well as a short film made in collaboration with Scandinavian production agency Bacon. Through it all, the album feels (and sounds) like Röyksopp, which is to say it is suffused with intuitive collaborations that often characterized their work (their collaborative work with Robyn, including Do It Again, being case in point). The album shape-shifts through varying tones, textures and temporalities, meditating on themes of love and loss as well as despair and reconciliation. The pair describes the new conceptual album as their most ambitious project yet, and sonically, this is clear.