Norwegian electronica duo Royksopp have unveiled today the new music video for their single “Never Ever” featuring Susanne Sundfor, which they released earlier this month. The accompanying video was directed by the duo themselves with Daniel Hardingserved as Video Producer, it takes the viewer on a surreal journey through what they described as “a disco-esque alternative universe”, and seems to be something straight out of Andy Warhol’s imagination.
“We have, in the past, tended to go for a bit of a somber sentiment in our videos, pristine imagery with a hint of darkness,” says Röyksopp’s Svein Berge. “But we wanted to turn that around this time, and make something raw, shabby and messy but predominantly light-hearted. At the core lies a reaction to the current paradigm of selfies & social media, where a flattering facade, overshadowing substance seems to be not only the accepted norm, but something to strive for. There are way too many artists that fuel this notion that one has to be both rich, delinquent, successful & sexy, all at the same time. We thought it refreshing to counter that and hence we’ve gone off on a different tangent for this video. It’s not completely unflattering, but it’s quite unflattering.”
The song, which gained immediate traction, has amassed over two million playbacks on Spotify since it’s release. and keeps growing by the day. It was the duo’s first single since the release of their sixth and final studio album The Inevitable End back in 2014, which they pledged would be their last full-length LP. However, the duo did say they would return with an album in other forms when they felt it appropriate. They’ve kept that promise with “Never Ever”, a club-ready track that electrifies the soul and gets a person groovin’ on the dance floor all night long, 80’s style.
The music video follows suit, it bounces around with vibrant colors and funky patterns that would remind a person of the Electric Company music videos from back in the day, but with less obvious green screen. It opens up with a head shot of Sundfor with layers of color surrounding her, with random appearances by other figures. At one point it would seem they are throwing a shout out to fellow electronic artists Daft Punk, by inserting what seems to be a DJ wearing a robotic helmet, giving a little hint towards the French duo perhaps. Each neon moment is accompanied by the catchy track and provides a perfect visual representation of the tracks overall feel.
The track marks Royksopp’s long awaited return to Astralwerks after 15 years, the label responsible for releasing the duo’s vastly influential and seminal debut album Melody A.M., and helped propel Royksopp as one of the world’s leading pioneers in electronic music. In that 15-year gap, the duo has managed to receive two Grammy nominations, a Brit nomination, 7 Spellemannprisen Awards in Norway, as well as worldwide acclaim. With visually compelling live sets, the two continue to pave the way for others to hopefully follow.
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