30 August 2026 | Photo: Vinyl specialist Martin Hughes pictured, via BBC
The hand-stencilled sleeves were created in 2002, shortly after Röyksopp released their debut album “Melody A.M.”
A rare vinyl sleeve for Röyksopp’s 2001 breakthrough album “Melody A.M.”, hand-stencilled by Banksy, has sold for nearly €4,350 (£3,720) at auction.
One of just 100 copies customised by the Bristol street artist in 2002, the sleeve was created after the Norwegian duo sent 100 blank record covers to Banksy. He returned them with Röyksopp’s name spray-painted in green using a custom stencil.
The copy was sold by Wessex Auction Rooms to a local street art collector rather than a vinyl collector. Martin Hughes of the auction house explained that its value was driven primarily by Banksy’s involvement, saying "as much as Royksopp were a great band, you're not going to be spending thousands on one of their albums".
Hughes described the sleeve as "one of the most fascinating modern collectables" he has "ever had the privilege of handling". "There are very few records in the world that are worth more than a couple of hundred pounds," he added.
The auction result is notably lower than several previous sales of the same Banksy-customised “Melody A.M.” sleeve. One of the 100 copies sold for $8,450 on Discogs, while two others changed hands on the platform in 2019 for more than $10,000 and $6,962 respectively.
The 100 sleeves remain a distinctive intersection of Banksy’s early street art practice and Röyksopp’s emergence during the formative years of electronic music’s 2000s revival.
Via BBC
