Behold the Holy Trinity

Behold the Holy Trinity

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Behold the Holy Trinity

The Scandinavian electro-poppers deliver a five-track mini album that manages to punch well above its weight.

Royksopp and Robyn/ Do It Again

Since 1999, Svein Berge and Torbjorn Brundtland, together known as Royksopp, have been making electronic music geared towards the aftermath of the dancefloor’s sweat-drenched frenzy. Over four studio albums, the Norwegian duo have displayed an enviable knack for whipping together elements of electronica, trip-hop and ambient to craft a unique blend of sounds that stretches far beyond clubs and dancefloors. In fact, one of their singles, Eple, was so innovative it was used by Apple as intro music on its Mac OS X Panther operating system.

Following their broody 2010 record Senior, Berge and Burndtland have returned with Do It Again, a collaborative project with Swedish pop goddess Robyn, who’s also their long-time friend. The three artists had previously worked together on Royksopp’s The Girl and the Robot as well as on Robyn’s None of Dem, so this partnership marks a natural reunion of Scandi-pop’s finest.

Billed as a mini album, Do It Again contains a total of five new tracks. Opener Monument finds Robyn at her most contemplative, singing alongside the ebb and flow of the melancholic bass line.

“This will be my monument/This will be a beacon when I’m gone/I will let this monument/Represent a moment of my life,” she muses, setting off the drum machine loop. The track’s second half is pure aural magic with sporadic saxophone flourishes that, in passing, seem to be mourning on behalf of Robyn.

If Monument represents the album’s most plaintive moment, the following track, Sayit, is its frantic counterpart. Barely containing any discernible lyrics, the song rides on a relentless techno beat while Robyn tries to teach an unidentified robot to say “I want you”.

And speaking of robots, the title track readily recalls her earlier Royksopp collaboration The Girl and the Robot with its insanely addictive electro-pop hook. This one is truly a pop tour de force. Elsewhere there’s a synth-driven ballad (Every Little Thing) and a sprawling instrumental closer (Inside The Idle Hour Club) which could easily have passed as a track from one of Royksopp’s later albums.

As with their past collaborations, Do It Again brilliantly combines the duo’s flair for electronics with Robyn’s pop sensibilities. The collection as a whole feels like a seamless sonic blend of all those involved. And given the record’s limited format, the mood on offer is impressively diverse, ranging from moody introspection to adrenalin-pumping effervescence. There’s something for everyone here whether you’re a fan of Royksopp, Robyn or stuck in between. If anything, Do It Again has done a fabulous job in whetting our appetites for what each artist has in store for their follow-ups. n

THE PLAYLIST

Samurai Loud/ I Quit 2014

After having announced their return to the music scene late last year, home-grown “comedy rock” trio Samurai Loud have finally unveiled their new single, I Quit 2014. According to the band whose new concept is now “Thai modern folk rock”, the track draws inspiration from a real-life experience where one of their colleagues suddenly decided to quit his job without telling anyone. “I quit/No work tomorrow/Forget files and documents/And a vicious pile of emails”, sings frontman Teesit “Van” Laddawan sings over fast-paced guitar riffs. He then comes up with a solution we can all pretty much agree on: “Let us go live on an island/Go on, forsake this god-forsaken city!”

Dionne Warwick (featuring Ne-Yo)/ A House is Not a Home

Long-serving diva Dionne Warwick has enlisted R&B crooner Ne-Yo on the revamped version of her 1964 classic A House is Not a Home. The soulful ballad, taken from her forthcoming 38th studio album, Feels So Good, is given a contemporary R&B edge well suited to the 21st century. Ne-Yo’s low register works great with Warwick’s legendary contralto. The album will feature 13 other reworked Warwick hits, each featuring a stellar lineup of guest appearances including Cyndi Lauper, Jamie Foxx and CeeLo Green.

Prince/ The Breakdown

Hot on the heels of his new partnership with Warner Bros, Prince has marked the occasion by releasing a new single called The Breakdown, a powerful ballad that heralds the advent of his yet-to-be-titled new studio album. “Listen to me closely as the story unfolds/This could be the saddest story even been told,” he gently warns in the opening verse as the keyboard twinkles away. Prince’s signature falsetto is as impressive as ever, but what’s even more impressive is his heart-wrenching, goosebump-inducing wail towards the end. He’s taken the art of breaking down to the next level.

Lana Del Rey/ Shades of Cool

Lana Del Rey keeps things delightfully dark with Shades of Cool, the second single lifted from her highly anticipated second album, Ultraviolence, due out next week. As with most of Del Rey’s output, the song relies on its gloom-and-doom aesthetics, cinematic soundscapes and the all-too-familiar narrative about a girl with a tortured soul pining after a bad boy. “My baby lives in shades of blue/Blue eyes and jazz and attitude/He lives in California too/He drives a Chevy Malibu/He lives for love, he loves his drugs, he loves his baby too,” she hauntingly coos along with spectral guitars.

The Roots (featuring Modesty Lycan)/ When the People Cheer

Billed as an anti-rap concept album, the Roots’ much-anticipated And Then You Shoot Your Cousin has finally arrived along with the single When the People Cheer. The track finds the Philly crew still experimenting with different genres and influences, but it’s the lyrics that take centre stage. Over the melodic piano, Black Thought lays down clever verses, referencing Jay Z (“I’m down to 95 dollars, that’s the extent of my riches/Out of 99 problems, 98 of ’em is bitches”) while Modesty Lycan provides one of this year’s most infectious hip hop hooks. n

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT