Ah, Röyksopp. It’s been a long while since I’ve written about a song by those guys. I won’t lie, I don’t know the duo all that much to write so much on their background if anyone reading was interested in that aspect. All I know is that ‘Happy Up Here’ had been in my iTunes library for some time, and there was a point during 2014/15 where I was looking for albums to listen to that were a little less guitar-centric. Röyksopp fit the bill. Their debut album Melody A.M. appeared to have received some fairly positive reviews, so I went for it. I can say it’s a pretty good record. I didn’t know what to expect when pressing play that first time. I was actually shocked when it came to its opening track. But I’ll save that for another post. What matters today is the album’s eighth track, ‘Remind Me’.

The tune was one that I had heard many years before when its music video played on one of those music channels. Don’t think it was MTV that time, but it was definitely one of them. What had remained in my head from that viewing up to the point of going through Melody A.M. was the song’s hook, “Remind, remind, remind me/Remind, remind, remind me”. Everything else I’d forgotten. So I was looking forward to hearing the song again, almost as if it were actually the first time. The track eventually arrived. But something was off. That hook that I had remembered for so long never arrived. Also, the song sounded totally different from how I recalled it. Well, it turned out that the music video utilised the single version of the track, which was a remix made by an obscure artist going by Someone Else. Probably because the album version didn’t have a clear chorus, which this remix rectified. I was unsure on how this ‘new’ album version sounded. But after giving it a few more plays, I came to appreciate it greatly. It was if that single version never existed.

In comparison to that single version (below), which is much more busier with a thumping beat and a commanding presence, the version on the album has an empty shopping mall/elevator/waiting room-music vibe to it (something I actually really like about it, makes for some really easy listening) that I think works to emphasise the melancholic nature of the lyrics, concerning the buzzkill of returning home after a hectic, busy time away and an attempt of rekindling a relationship that doesn’t go to well, as sung by Kings of Convenience vocalist Erlend Øye. Where a chorus would usually appear after the song’s first verse is replaced by an endearing keyboard refrain, mirroring the established vocal melody. The track’s beat kicks in after that little keyboard break adding a bit of momentum to the proceedings, but not so much that it overbears the soundscape. And these bleeps and bloops arrive in the mix before the final chorus, followed by a subtle, subtle guitar that suddenly appears during it. The track fades into silence, and it’s a bummer when it finishes. Not just because the song’s over, but also because this isn’t one of the most happiest songs out there. Leaves you feeling reflective and all that.