Röyksopp - Junior

Since Melody A.M. dropped in 2001, Norwegian electronic duo Röyksopp has been one of the most consistent Euro-club acts I can think of (along with their friends and collaborators, The Knife, of course). The newest album, Junior, drenched the blogosphere immediately after it leaked in late February, and the full album was made available on March 22nd. If it was up to me, I would listen to this album on good speakers everyday, all day long, but alas – there are classes at Oberlin, and they get kinda hard during fourth module. Sigh.

Junior is the first half of Junior / Senior, of which Junior is heavily pulsated and club inspired. Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge have stated that Senior will balance out the pure vigor and beat-centric groove of Junior, focusing on more of the downtempo electronic ambience that listeners expect from Röyksopp’s slower songs, such as “Someone Like Me,” for instance. To be released in the indefinite future, Senior will probably be incredible, but the absence of chillaxed grooves goes totally unnoticed on Junior, which sounds every bit as complete and balanced as their previous recordings.

“Happy Up Here,” the first single, is a brilliant follow-up to favorites such as “Remind Me” (as heard on Geico commercials) and “Poor Leno,” but is in some respects, more captivating. Clocking in at less than three minutes of length, my only complaint with the single is that it is too short. Röyksopp is special to me because their electronics are used to add musical interest and they don’t weigh too heavy on the sparse singing. If anything, the twinkling, multifaceted, synthesized landscape of “Happy Up Here” is interesting enough, even without the characteristic, shimmery vocals. For you Parliament fans out there, this song highlights a sweet “Do That Stuff” sample.

Other hot tracks from Junior include “Vision One,” which features one of the smoothest, grimy bass lines I can think of, as well as pure vocals from Norwegian singer/actress Anneli Drecker. The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson adds her voice to three tracks, including the strangest song on the album, “Tricky Tricky,” which showcases lyrics only Andersson can pull off with such peculiar grace: “Is six afraid of seven, ‘cause seven eight nine? / I’m about to lose it a second time. / Staring at the wall, hour after hour, / running up and down, over and over.” Lykke Li lends her quiet talent to two songs, of which one, “Miss It So Much” is on the album (the other is one of those annoying iTunes bonuses, which you can find online, of course). The closing track, entitled “Across the Graveyard” is relaxed and uncomplicated, leading into a mood we can expect from Senior.

The trip-hop influence that has been simmering within Röyksopp for awhile now bears itself clearly in this album. However, the only way to really describe Junior is that it is recognizably a Röyksopp album, through and through. There’s nothing better than that, especially on a beautiful spring day. Get this album before the third week of April. Wink wink.