- Trilogies are such good things. Humanity gravitates to the balance that a “beginning” a “middle” and an “end” offer. Christianity is predicated on the idea of the Trinity; a three-legged milking stool is a lot more stable on uneven ground than one with four legs; and everyone knows that George Lucas created the trilogies of trilogies that have kept the world going around and around for the last forty-five years.

As noted back in August this year on reviewing Profound Mysteries II, 2023 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland in creating Röyksopp. The Norwegian duo have reached the end point of their ambitious multi-media project that is Profound Mysteries. Though since that August 2022 review of Profound Mysteries II the tracks and accompanying short films (which aren’t exactly “music videos” of the songs themselves) have been coming steadily, so a lot of what is on III has been known for a while.

The sense one gets from this final part of the trilogy is that the duo have had a lot of fun playing with sounds, themes, genres and styles. They’ve also worked with most of the collaborators who have been with them for the first two parts of this journey - Alison Goldfrapp, Susanne Sundfør, Astrid S, Pixx and Jamie Irrepressible – and one new one, Detroit based R&B singer Maurissa Rose.

Opening up the collection is a great title for what they have attempted this year with their trilogy, So Ambitious which is a subtle, moody and perhaps unexpected intro, with Jamie Irrepressible, who has a great gift for sensitive, maudlin rending of the lyrics, though their best work is later on with The Next Day which almost tricks the ear into thinking you are hearing the extraordinary vocalist ANONHI. The way Irrepressible can croon effortlessly and so close to the microphone is a testament to the skill of both performer and producer.

After lulling the listener into a quiet opening, things build from there the electro twinkle of Me & Youphoria and then the heavy beats come in a pack of three (there’s that symbolism again!) Stay Awhile duets between the fellas and Susanne Sundfør whose vocals get more and more powerful as the song goes on. Alison Goldfrapp knows her way around a dance track and the throbbing incessant bassline in The Night provides her with an opportunity to weave in and around the sonic palette that the duo create.

Actually the “three-pack” of heavy beats is broken by a very gentle, introspective drifting track Lights Out with Pixx laying down some nearly fragile vocals over this very soundtrack like breather before hitting the runway again with the Kraftwerk homage Speed King. At nearly ten minutes this is by far the longest cut on the release and is mesmerizing (though some might say indulgent) in the use of all the electronic frippery that the duo can command. Astrid S and her slightly cutie-pie vocal gets a Niles Rodgers like bass groove to play with on Just Wanted to Know which neatly dovetails into Feel It and the Detroit flavour that Maurissa Rose brings is self-evident, there’s a touch of old-school disco c. 1979 here (shades of Lipps Inc) and could have been a great sign off to the project, but, Pixx is back for a quaint final track Like An Old Dog, which sounds almost like the Catholic admonishment “to dust you are and to dust you shall return” or perhaps like the Ancient Roman triumph offered to victorious generals with a person at their shoulder repeating over and over “remember thou art mortal”. Maybe that famous Nordic noir sadness-in-the-middle-of-happiness is their leave taking from this epic project, a sort-of modern Scandinavian saga.

Profound Mysteries III is definitely the more introspective of the three parts of the whole and that may contribute to some sense of indulgence in the middle or last quarter of some tracks, however, it is on the whole an elegantly crafted conclusion to the set and a fitting way to crown twenty-five years of work in what is too often an ephemeral genre in the rapacious modern music business.

- Blair Martin.