Royksopp - Profound Mysteries (2LP)

Röyksopp’s return in April 2022 felt like a sly wink from two artists who once swore off the idea of traditional albums. Profound Mysteries arrived as the first chapter in a larger 2022 trilogy, and it plays like a love letter to the duo’s own history while finding fresh corners to explore. Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland still have that knack for building worlds out of synths and silence. You can hear the patience in every fade and glimmer, the way a melody sneaks up rather than shouts.

The opener, The Ladder, sets the tone with a patient rise that nods back to the cinematic sweep of their Melody A.M. days but with thicker textures and a steelier palette. Then the familiar thrill of collaboration kicks in. Alison Goldfrapp slips into Impossible with a cool, feline presence, her vocal riding a pressure-pulse groove that would not have felt out of place in a sleek club at 2 am. Long-time collaborator Susanne Sundfør brings icy poise to If You Want Me, a track that hangs weightless between desire and distance. Beki Mari’s turn on This Time, This Place... lifts in waves, the chords surging like headlights sliding past on a wet road. Pixx adds a strange-bloom sadness to How the Flowers Grow, where the drums feel soft to the touch but still land with intent.

What strikes me most is how tactile the production feels. Röyksopp have always treated the studio like an instrument, and here the sound design is almost architectural. Pads breathe. Snares are brushed rather than smacked. Bass lines move like shadows under streetlights. The details reward repeat plays on a good set-up, which is why Profound Mysteries vinyl is such a satisfying way to live with it. The duo channel their fondness for classic synths without falling into retro cosplay, and the layers hold up beautifully on wax. If you collect Röyksopp vinyl, this sits nicely alongside The Understanding and The Inevitable End, bridging the pop clarity of the former and the elegant gloom of the latter.

It helps that the record isn’t just a record. Each track arrived with a discrete visual object by Australian artist Jonathan Zawada and a short film by a different director, turning the project into a gallery of mood pieces. That framing gives the music a sense of scale. You’re not just dropping the needle for background ambience. You’re stepping into a room with its own rules and objects. It also makes the sleeve art worth lingering over if you’re thumbing through Röyksopp albums on vinyl at a Melbourne record store. Zawada’s imagery has that alien-but-familiar quality that fits the music’s careful strangeness.

Critics responded to the scope and craft, noting the way Röyksopp folded new collaborators into their established language without losing their sense of self. Fans latched onto Impossible for obvious reasons, since any meeting of Goldfrapp and Röyksopp is going to light up the synth-pop synapses. But the album’s quieter corners are what keep me coming back. There, Beyond the Trees feels like a secret passage, a late-night walk piece that adds to the world of the record without clamouring for attention. It recalls how the duo can make instrumental music feel narrative, as if the drums and arpeggios are characters moving across a landscape.

There’s also a gentle cleverness to how the songs are sequenced. Beats flex and recede. Voices appear, then the clouds part and an instrumental takes over. It is not a nostalgic trip, though it wears its history with pride. Instead, Profound Mysteries serves as a reminder that Röyksopp never really left the album form. They just needed to find a new doorway back in. Framing this as the first instalment of a 2022 trilogy kept them honest, too, since the ideas are focused rather than sprawling, and the guests feel essential rather than decorative.

If you’re looking to buy Röyksopp records online in Australia, this one is a safe recommendation. The pressing has the space and low-end heft the music deserves, and the visuals make it a handsome addition to the shelf. For crate diggers chasing vinyl records Australia wide, Profound Mysteries vinyl is the kind of modern electronic release that justifies the habit. It slots easily into a late night at home, or that Sunday haze when you want detail without fuss. And if you’re new to the duo, this is a fine doorway. Start here, then work backward. You might walk out with more than you planned, which is part of the fun.