With their warm, inviting take on downbeat, Norwegian duo Röyksopp survived the electronica boom of the early 2000s to become one of the most enduring electronic acts of their time. On early tracks like "Eple" and "Poor Leno," and their 2001 breakthrough debut Melody A.M., they blended house, R&B, and the atmospheres of IDM into more traditional downbeat sounds, and their use of multiple guest vocalists further added to their versatility. A major success in their homeland, where their first four albums topped the charts, Röyksopp were also an international success, hitting a mainstream peak in the late 2000s with 2009's guest-packed Junior and its introspective instrumental counterpart, 2010's Senior. Though they shied away from typical album-based releases after 2014's majestically melancholy supposed farewell The Inevitable End, Röyksopp continued to issue music in the form of singles, mixes, and collections such as 2021's Lost Tapes. They eventually returned to album-making in 2022 with the ambitious and highly collaborative three-volume series, Profound Mysteries I, II, and III.

The pair --  and Svein Berge -- both grew up in Tromsø and met through a mutual friend when they were in their early teens. Their shared love of electronic music led them to begin began recording in the early '90s. Local-made-good  (aka ) provided tutelage, and during this time, Berge and  formed the group  with two other musicians. The band's 1994 EP Traveler's Dreams appeared on the  sublabel , and  almost convinced them to sign a full deal with the label. However,  disbanded, and after a few years apart,  and Berge met up again in Bergen and formed Röyksopp in 1998. Following a pair of singles for the local label  (1999's "So Easy" and 2001's "Eple"), the group signed to . The British big beat label reissued "Eple," which along with another track, "Poor Leno," earned slots on over a dozen chillout compilations that year and the next.

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