''The Inevitable End'' is the fifth studio album by Norwegian

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

duo

Röyksopp Röyksopp (), a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø formed in 1998. The duo consists of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland. Berge and Brundtland were introduced to each other through a mutual friend in Tromsø, Norway. They enjoy ...

, released on 7 November 2014 by Dog Triumph.

Svein Berge Svein is a Norwegian masculine given name which may refer to: Rulers * Sweyn Haakonsson (died c. 1016), in Norwegian Svein Håkonsson, an earl and co-ruler of Norway from 1000 to c. 1015 * Svein Knutsson (c. 1016–1035), King of Norway as Sweyn I ...

stated the album has a "dark energy", while

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (born 12 June 1979), known as Robyn (), is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. She arrived on the music scene with her 1995 debut album, ''Robyn Is Here'', which produced two ''Billboard'' Hot 100 t ...

described the album as "sad, but it's not cold. It's very warm." Four singles were released from the album: "Monument" (T.I.E. Version), "Skulls", "Sordid Affair" and "I Had This Thing". In September 2014, the duo announced that ''The Inevitable End'' would be their final studio album in the traditional sense, adding that they are "not going to stop making music, but the album format as such, this is the last thing from us". In 2022, the duo announced a new "musical project" entitled ''

Profound Mysteries ''Profound Mysteries'' is the sixth studio album by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp, and is the first of three albums in the ''Profound Mysteries'' series of albums. It was released with collections of short films (each by a different d ...

'', and that album was released on 29 April 2022.

Critical reception

''The Inevitable End'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 75, based on 20 reviews. Madison Vain of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' noted that the album "showcase the best of the duo's trance-y instrumentals, propulsive hooks, and bubbling beats." Scott Simpson of '' Exclaim!'' opined that Röyksopp "have recorded the best final album they could have envisioned: a layered and cohesive package of enveloping synths filled with addictive hooks." Timothy Monger of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

viewed the album as "a strong finale in the duo's signature style and whether or not this truly is the end or merely the end of their album era, ''The Inevitable End'' sits among the best in Röyksopp's catalog." '' Billboard''s Jamieson Cox stated that the duo were "leaving on a high note" and lauded the album as "sublime melancholy

electro-pop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

, rich and emotionally resonant without feeling maudlin." Ryan Lathan of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' called the album "gorgeously produced" and wrote that it "will never be looked upon as a terribly uplifting experience, but its lyrical content treats heartache, despair, self-hatred, remorse, depression, and the fear of the unknown with utter respect." Franklin Jones of '' Slant Magazine'' commented, "Though the album doesn't skimp on potentially insufferable moments of bottom-lip-biting farewell ..the best tracks boast a fiercely renewed energy that suggests Berge and Brundtland still have much more to offer." Corinne Jones of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' remarked that " e best songs have a dark, brooding quality: the Norwegian duo's once naive sound has evolved to a smarter, more lyrically resonant electronica, and if it weren't for a couple of whimsical ballads, this would be a powerful, cohesive goodbye." At ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Michael Hann found that ''The Inevitable End'' "embodies öyksopp'sstrengths and ..weaknesses"; he cited "Running to the Sea" and "Sordid Affair" as standouts from the album, but felt that the album contains "too much drift". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

''s Marc Hogan expressed, "Despite capable guest vocalists, including Robyn herself, he album isgenerally devoted to glossy, bittersweet electronic drifts that are too slow, too long, or too bland to hold interest for 60 minutes, though often unobjectionable in smaller servings." Phil Hebblethwaite of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' characterised the album as "the sound of a band once introspective but alive, now lost, depressed and completely unavailable."

Commercial performance

''The Inevitable End'' debuted at number 38 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, selling 3,487 copies in its first week. In the United States, the album entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 103 and the

Dance/Electronic Albums Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Dance/Electronic Albums (formerly Top Electronic Albums) is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States based on sales compiled by ...

chart at number two, with first-week sales of 4,000 copies.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''The Inevitable End''. *

– production, instruments, mastering ; vocals ; artwork *

– vocals * Man Without Country (Ryan James) – vocals * Susanne Sundfør – vocals ; additional vocal effects * Jamie Irrepressible – vocals * Kato Ådland – guitar *

Davide Rossi Davide Rossi (born 7 August 1970) is an Italian violinist, string arranger, composer, conductor and a record producer, perhaps best known for having been the violinist, guitar and keytar-player for the British electronic music duo Goldfrapp f ...

– strings, string arrangements * Walter Coelho – mastering * Mike Marsh – mastering * Arnau Pi – artwork * Stian Andersen – photo of Juliane S

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inevitable End, The 2014 albums Cherrytree Records albums Interscope Records albums Polydor Records albums Röyksopp albums Wall of Sound (record label) albums