Röyksopp – Junior

Röyksopp – Junior

‘Junior’, the latest release from Norwegian electronic group Röyksopp reinforces the idea that the band’s music is more about atmosphere and emotion, instead of straight forward story telling.
As with their two previous releases, ‘Melody A.M.’ and ‘The Understanding’, Röyksopp’s use of synthesisers and drum machines, as well as a whole host of electronic instruments, help to create a gentle yet claustrophobic effect to traditional pop themes.
The band also feature guess vocals from fellow Norweigener Robyn, Lykke Li and the superb Karin Dreijer Andersson who also features on the band’s earlier work.
Another key trademark of the band that can be seen is the shift in mood that takes place through many of the tracks. Most notably, ‘Röyksopp Forever’, which features at the midpoint of the album. This track, despite its weak title, delivers a soaring melody fused with a Massive Attack style rhythm which culminates in a finale of epic proportions, in turn evoking an alternation in the listener’s mood. This ‘shifting’ can be read across the album as a whole, from the optimistic opener ‘Happy Up Here’, which again highlights Röyksopp’s trademark sound, right through to the closed dense album climax of ‘It’s What I Want’. On the whole, the album includes both light and dark moments with a splattering of disco trance – esque dance tracks such as ‘The Girl And The Robot’. ‘This Must Be It’ and ‘Tricky Tricky’. But the most inspiring moment of the whole album has to be the masterpiece, ‘True To Life’; a mesmerizing mix of glitchy synthesizers and off tempo drumbeats, as well as interesting lyrics which sums up the intense claustrophobia that the band has tried to convey.
For lovers of Röyksopp’s previous work, ‘Junior’ delivers the perfect blend of sounds and emotion that have become familiar and also sets mood for their forthcoming album, ‘Senior’, said to be a more mature follow on, out towards the end of this year. An essential album of 2009!