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Röyksopp - Junior
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| Musicomh |
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A hair-raising eight years after the seminal Melody AM and some four since its successor, The Understanding, Röyksopp have deemed us worthy to enter their world once more. On this electrifying evidence, the wait was more than worth it. The boys - Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge - reaped plaudits for these first two efforts, described by them as a "relaxed journey" and "melodic catchiness" respectively, and Junior is supposed to be a blend of the two. It also serves as a bold precursor to its sibling recording, Senior, released in just a few short months. The album springs into life with first single, Happy Up Here, a moment of giggling signalling the beginning of a perfect slice of trip-pop, a funky Parliament sample providing the fuel and an apt lyric - delivered via vocoder and then simply yelled - the payoff: "I'm ready for it!"...full text |
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| Guardian |
| There's a gorgeously indulgent quality to Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland's third album. As if determined to shake off their simplistic yet lingering reputation as purveyors of pleasant musical wallpaper for clothes shops and TV soundbeds, the Norwegian duo have gone for broke this time around: plump, tactile synthesisers, viscid dance grooves and a crack squad of vocalists, all deployed with precision and verve. Joining regular confederate Anneli Drecker, a trio of Swedes raise the songwriting stakes: Lykke Li coos and sighs over the beatific arpeggios of Miss It So Much; the Knife's Karin Dreijer Andersson, her voice like a Scandinavian winter, injects bewitching unease into the Orbital-like drama of Tricky Tricky; and Robyn bemoans the vicissitudes of human-android romance on the tremendous The Girl and the Robot. Free of the creeping pomposity that undermined 2005's The Understanding, Junior punches the pleasure centres time and again....full text |
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| Tinymixtapes |
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The jury’s been out on Röyksopp ever since the duo released The Understanding in 2005. While some fans were happy to see Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge branch out towards a more mainstream, club-friendly direction similar to their remix work, those who went in expecting Melody A.M. part deux were, excuse the pun, less understanding. Junior is their third official album (not counting the literally-titled live album Röyksopp’s Night Out), and the results will likely be more satisfying for those who were willing to follow the group as they evolved rather than those who wanted the group to stick to the formula. Indeed, Junior has little in common with the low-key chill-out of Melody A.M. The songs here are loud and the hooks obvious. In fact, the album takes its basic template from The Understanding: sharp, bright beats, tight pop structure, and Karin from The Knife. But what distinguishes it from the Norwegian duo’s enjoyable (but flawed) second effort isn’t a return to formula or an entirely new direction, but simply a stronger sense of revision. The Understanding, despite its effervescent tone, was curiously slack; Junior is anything but. From the first seconds of "Happy Up Here," it’s obvious that Röyksopp are out to move bodies, not just play synthesized lullabies. Take "Miss It So Much" as an example: the song could easily rely on the endearingly wispy talents of ever-present guest-vocalist Lykke Li, but it instead swells and deflates, achieving a sonic density that runs contrary to any impressions of slightness. Although the introductory melody of "You Don’t Have A Clue" might be reminiscent of Melody A.M.’s "Remind Me," the backing track makes literal the operatic ambitions that are a constant undercurrent on Röyksopp’s post-Melody output. Junior is a pure pop album; out, loud, and proud. The best songs on the album, such as closer "It’s What I Want," possess a brash, throbbingly queer energy. Even queerer (and better), "The Girl And The Robot" comes across like a remake of Sarah Brightman’s camp ’70s classic "I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper." In fact, the weakest moments on Junior occur when Röyksopp split the difference between their first two albums. "True To Life" eventually finds some, but it takes several minutes of low-key meandering before the song’s pulse is distinctly felt. Perhaps it isn’t that the softer, slower songs are disappointing; you need to come down at some point, if you ever want to get high again....full text |
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