Artist: Röyksopp
Label: Wall of Sound
Release: year
Runtime: 50.55
Rating: 4/5
Norwegian duo Röyksopp, who’ve been Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge since their formation in 1998, didn’t reinvent the wheel on their third record “Junior” — they stuck to the proven formula for success they first tasted in 2001 with their debut album “Melody A.M.”.
Still, “Junior” does set itself apart from that first record. On this latest disc, the pair took their authentic, ambient chill-out sound and reworked it for bigger halls. Never afraid to experiment, the duo has pulled all the major elements of electronic music together on the album, so trip-pop, dance, disco and trip-hop all weave in and out of each other. The one big difference this time is that the guest vocals don’t come from Norwegian colleagues but from Swedish ones: Robyn, Anneli Drecker, Karin Dreijer-Andersson of The Knife (the duo she founded with her brother Olof Dreijer), and Lykke Li. Four totally different voices that cut through the melodies of these razor-precise tracks like cold Nordic air.
The record, which is the first part of the “Junior/Senior” project (the second part, “Senior”, is supposed to see the light of day pretty soon), packs in eleven songs that speak for themselves. The tried-and-true formula, which is the polar opposite of the second album “The Understanding” from 2005, brings together a sharper, clearer, louder and slightly tighter pop structure built for dancing. It’s a proper musical atom bomb, only one that leaves no devastation behind and instead settles snugly into your ears. An undisputed winner from start to finish.
The tip of the iceberg goes to the first and lead single (and probably the most polished one too), “Happy Up Here”, which optimistically dictates “I`m ready for it” and “My favourite record is playing again” through a vocoder. The follow-up is just as good. Robyn, the likable Swedish singer and multiple Grammy nominee, brightens up “Girl and the Robot” with her impressive vocals over a dirty disco backdrop. Right alongside her stands Anneli Drecker, the next guest singer in line, who spices up “Vision One” with her falsetto. The heavier bass rhythms and standout synth lines here will definitely appeal more to older Röyksopp fans, since the track is a reworked remix originally made for Japanese pop artist Eri Nobuchiki. It’s also one of the few songs on the album where Drecker sings the lead vocal in English.
The double lead-vocal “duty” then falls to Karin Dreijer-Andersson. “This Must Be It” is a euphoric disco pop number where you can make out the past of the Brundtland – Berge duo. “Tricky Tricky” is its polar opposite. Its dramatic, almost over-the-top creepy atmosphere is refined by a slightly jittery vocal that keeps the listener in check from the first note to the last. The fever is broken by the decidedly optimistic, almost orchestral chill-out track “Röyksopp Forever”, probably one of the greatest works of art the two trip-hop maestros have ever created.
Last in the line of guest singers is Lykke Li. Her innocent, girlish voice makes itself known on “Miss It So Much”, firmly planted at the turning point of the record. Another high-flying dance treat, decorated with Miss Drecker’s vocals, is “You Don`t Have A Clue”, though at times it reminds you a bit too strongly of “Remind Me” from Röyksopp’s debut. But you can’t really hold that against the duo. Among all these high-production gems, the brooding “Silver Cruiser” turns out to be the weakest link, with slightly over-polished rhythms that (un)knowingly and rather unsuitably wander into territory staked out a decade or more ago by Kraftwerk and/or Groove Armada, Lemon Jelly, Zero 7 and others.
“True to Life”, slightly paranoid and loaded with beats, finds its footing in a completely different way, and you can slip into it easily. Even though it comes and goes like an April thunderstorm, it sets the stage for the closer “It`s What I Want”, probably the best and bounciest song on the record.
“Junior” doesn’t live in the shadow of the first two full-length records. With their simple rhythms that break out of the usual frames, Brundtland and Berge have created a thrilling story that will soon be complemented by the slightly slower, calmer and more ambient “Senior”. Until then … Röyksopp Forever!
Lineup
Svein Berge – vocals, synthesizer (tracks 1, 11)
Torbjørn Brundtland – vocals, synthesizer (tracks 1, 11)
Robyn – vocals (track 2)
Anneli Drecker – vocals (tracks 3, 8, 10, 13)
Karin Dreijer Andersson – vocals (tracks 4, 7)
Lykke Li – vocals (track 6)
Production
Röyksopp
Track list
1. Happy Up Here
2. The Girl And The Robot
3. Vision One
4. This Must Be It
5. Röyksopp Forever
6. Miss It So Much
7. Tricky Tricky
8. You Don`t Have A Clue
9. Silver Cruiser
10. True To Life
11. It`s What I Want
