I can probably count on one hand the number of times that a band or group has unashamedly taken the sound of another band or group, and actually managed to improve on it. But you can add Norwegian duo Röyksopp to the list, because not only is their new album "The Understanding" obviously inspired by Daft Punk's "Discovery" album. Not that that is a bad thing to be inspired by, since if you're going to copy someone else's work, you may as well copy their best work, but what I was impressed with was that the band didn't just borrow their style, they built upon and expanded it.

The album gets off to a splendid start with Triumphant, which layers sound upon sound in much the same way as a shoegaze band would. The difference here is that the instruments, starting with a piano but building up to a bouncing bassline, crashing cymbals, and deceptively subtle touches of synth, are crystal-clear instead of dreamlike and distorted, working together to shape into a gorgeous crescendo, before the same piano that started the song takes the listener gently down to earth.

It very nearly falls apart on the next to tracks though, which are more cheesy than a six-week holiday in the Swiss highlands. Röyksopp are at their best when they're channelling darker, more cerebral impulses, and euro-dance simply doesn't suit them at all. They manage to rescue themselves with Sombre Detune, which sounds like the soundtrack to some sort of creepy David Lynch sex movie. It's precisely the sort of dark, yet danceable track that the duo excels at, and the fact that this sort of music dominates the album is a fortunate thing. Someone Like Me is another interesting track, with gently ascending and descending retro synth lines backed up by intentionally hollow sounding percussion.

The selection of guest vocalists on this album is usually pretty good, but unquestionably, the best choice was Karin Dreijer of Honey Is Cool and The Knife on What Else Is There?. The song glides along on a pulsing bassline, with the ethereal vocals fading in at irregular intervals in a manner reminiscent of Björk or Múm.

Although this album would be much stronger if a few of the tracks had been left on the floor of the editing room, it's inevitable that those same tracks are probably the ones that will help sell this album. Given the quality of the rest of the album, a few dud songs can be tolerated though, and if they help to bring the rest of the music to a wider audience, they can't be all that bad. Despite the fact that there's nothing particularly original here, "The Understanding" is so well put together that it's one of the best electronic albums so far this year.