The Inevitable End

The Inevitable End
Studio album by Röyksopp
Released	7 November 2014
Genre	Downtempo ambient synthpop
Length	60:49
Label	Dog Triumph
Producer	Röyksopp
Röyksopp chronology
Do It Again (2014) The Inevitable End (2014)
Singles from The Inevitable End
"Monument (T.I.E. Version)" Released: 9 September 2014 "Skulls" Released: 29 September 2014 "Sordid Affair" Released: 13 October 2014 "I Had This Thing" Released: 30 January 2015

The Inevitable End is the fifth and final studio album by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp, released on 7 November 2014 by Dog Triumph. Svein Berge stated the album has "a dark energy", while Robyn described the album: "It's sad, but it's not cold. It's very warm."^[1] Four singles were released off the record.

The group have announced this is 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".^[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Billboard	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[6]
Exclaim!	9/10[7]
The Guardian	[8]
NME	5/10
The Observer	[9]
Pitchfork Media	5.9/10[10]
PopMatters	8/10[11]
Slant Magazine	[12]

The Inevitable End received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 20 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[3] Madison Vain of Entertainment Weekly noted that the album "showcase[s] the best of the duo's trance-y instrumentals, propulsive hooks, and bubbling beats."^[6] 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."^[7] Timothy Monger of AllMusic 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."^[4] Billboard's Jamieson Cox stated that the duo were "leaving on a high note" and lauded the album as "sublime melancholy electro-pop, rich and emotionally resonant without feeling maudlin."^[5] Ryan Lathan of PopMatters 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."^[11]

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."^[12] Corinne Jones of The Observer remarked that "[t]he 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."^[9] At The Guardian, Michael Hann found that The Inevitable End "embodies [Röyksopp's] strengths 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".^[8] Pitchfork Media's Marc Hogan expressed, "Despite capable guest vocalists, including Robyn herself, [the album is] generally 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."^[10] Phil Hebblethwaite of the NME characterised the album as "the sound of a band once introspective but alive, now lost, depressed and completely unavailable."^[13]

Commercial performance

The Inevitable End debuted at number thirty-eight on the UK Albums Chart, selling 3,487 copies in its first week.^[14] In the United States, the album entered the Billboard 200 at number 102 and the Dance/Electronic Albums chart at number two, with first-week sales of 4,000 copies.^[15][16]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Röyksopp, except where noted. 

Disc 1
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Vocals	Length
1.	"Skulls"		Röyksopp	3:46
2.	"Monument" (T.I.E Version)	Röyksopp Robyn	Röyksopp Robyn	4:47
3.	"Sordid Affair"		Man Without Country (Ryan James)	6:20
4.	"You Know I Have to Go"		Jamie Irrepressible	7:35
5.	"Save Me"		Susanne Sundfør	4:36
6.	"I Had This Thing"	Röyksopp Jamie Irrepressible	Jamie Irrepressible	5:48
7.	"Rong"	Röyksopp Robyn	Robyn	2:32
8.	"Here She Comes Again"		Jamie Irrepressible	5:02
9.	"Running to the Sea"		Susanne Sundfør	4:56
10.	"Compulsion"	Röyksopp Jamie Irrepressible	Jamie Irrepressible	6:59
11.	"Coup de Grace"			3:19
12.	"Thank You"		Röyksopp	6:36

Disc 2: Prologue
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Vocals	Length
1.	"Do It Again" (RYXP Version)	Röyksopp Robyn	Robyn	7:03
2.	"Goodnite, Mr. Sweetheart"			5:02
3.	"Caramel Afternoon"			2:20
4.	"Oh No!"			1:42
5.	"Something in My Heart"	Röyksopp Jamie Irrepressible	Jamie Irrepressible	5:29

Japanese edition bonus track[17]
No.	Title	Length
6.	"I Just Don't Understand You"	4:39

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Inevitable End.^[18]

• Röyksopp – instruments, mastering, production (all tracks); vocals ("Skulls", "Monument" (T.I.E Version), "Thank You", "I Just Don't Understand You"); artwork
• Kato Ådland – guitar ("I Had This Thing")
• Stian Andersen – photo of Juliane S
• Walter Coelho – mastering (all except "Skulls", "Running to the Sea" and "Thank You")
• DEF Ltd. – management
• Jamie Irrepressible – vocals ("You Know I Have to Go", "I Had This Thing", "Here She Comes Again", "Compulsion", "Something in My Heart")
• Man Without Country (Ryan James) – vocals ("Sordid Affair")
• Mike Marsh – mastering ("Skulls", "Running to the Sea", "Thank You")
• Arnau Pi – artwork
• Robyn – vocals ("Monument" (T.I.E Version), "Rong", "Do It Again" (RYXP Version))
• Davide Rossi – strings ("Rong", "Oh No!")
• Susanne Sundfør – vocals ("Save Me", "Running to the Sea"); additional vocal effects ("Here She Comes Again")

Charts

Chart (2014–15)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[19]	23
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20]	26
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21]	45
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[22]	34
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[23]	53
French Albums (SNEP)[24]	137
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25]	54
Greek Albums (IFPI)[26]	72
Irish Albums (IRMA)[27]	75
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA)[28]	13
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[29]	241
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[30]	2
Scottish Albums (OCC)[31]	39
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[32]	87
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[33]	50
UK Albums (OCC)[34]	38
UK Dance Albums (OCC)[35]	5
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[36]	2
US Billboard 200[16]	103
US Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[37]	2

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
Australia	7 November 2014	CD LP digital download	Pod	[38][39][40]
Ireland		CD digital download	Dog Triumph Wall of Sound	[41][42]
Japan	8 November 2014		Beat Dog Triumph	[17][43]
United Kingdom	9 November 2014	Digital download	Dog Triumph Wall of Sound	[44]
United States		LP	Cherrytree Interscope	[45]
France	10 November 2014	CD digital download	Polydor	[46][47]
Norway		CD LP digital download	Dog Triumph	[48][49]
United Kingdom		CD LP	Dog Triumph Wall of Sound	[50][51]
United States		CD digital download	Cherrytree Interscope	[52][53]
Germany	21 November 2014	CD LP digital download	Embassy of Music	[54][55][56]
France	8 December 2014	LP	Polydor	[57]

References

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