Profound Mysteries II in Bloomington, MN

After taking an extended hiatus from the album format, Norwegian electronic duo
Roeyksopp
made a grand return in early 2022 with
Profound Mysteries
, the first installment of an ambitious two-parter. During their first two decades together,
Svein Berge
and
Torbjorn Brundtland
curated an impeccable guest list of mostly female Nordic luminaries to voice their sweeping downbeat and synth-pop anthems. Swedes like
Robyn
,
Lykke Li
, and
Karin Dreijer
have all taken memorable turns at the mike, though it's fellow Norwegian
Susanne Sundfor
whose wonderful latter-day contributions make her seem like the group's honorary third member. Along with
newcomers like
Astrid S
Alison Goldfrapp
Sundfor
made two strong appearances on
' first volume and returns here just a few months later for a pair of victory laps on the project's sequel. Where the overall tone of volume one was more haunted and windswept, this second set boasts a handful of irresistible club-driven tracks, particularly the two instrumental highlights, "Denimclad Baboons" and the slightly menacing "Control." With their growling synths and wily arrangements, both are quintessential
bangers. Musically,
Berge
Brundtland
continue to subtly expand their signature mix of lush downbeat drama and clever electropop, getting cinematic and darkly funked-out, sometimes in the same song. Adding continuity to the project,
Pixx
appear on both
albums, with
adding another classic to their shared catalog on the excellent "Oh, Lover."
Karen Harding
makes her
debut on "Unity," a rousing uptempo cut that feels like a bit of a club throwback, and fellow Brit
Jamie Irrepressible
loans his yearning voice to the moody "Sorry." As satisfying as its predecessor,
Profound Mysteries II
is yet another quality entry in
's already sterling canon. ~ Timothy Monger