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Review
Norway’s globally popular Röyksopp are known as purveyors of warm, melodic, vocal-led adult electronica. But their fourth album is likely to win admiration from those who’ve written the duo off as a mainstream, coffee-table affair. The first strictly instrumental album from Svein Berge and Torbjorn Brundtland is a sumptuously realised journey through the soundscapes of the original masters of 70s synth music. Vangelis, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and Giorgio Moroder all haunt the lush byways of Senior.
Those who own and love last year’s Junior will have already worked out the basis of this follow-up. The two albums were recorded at the same time, with Junior representing the danceable vocal side of Röyksopp, and Senior giving us a snapshot of what the pair calls "the introvert and darker sibling who lives in the attic". The nearest set, in recent years, to this idea is last year’s (DJ) Hell LP Teufelswerk, which served up a ‘Night’ album for the dancefloor and a ‘Day’ album made up of contemplative drifts and elegies.
Whether releasing two conjoined twin albums a year apart proves to be a good idea or not, Berge and Brundtland have proved that they don’t need star vocalists to make a great record. Senior is varied, as gripping rhythmically as a dance record, and packed full of enough melodies to keep the most unreconstructed of pop fans engaged.
The duo describes the album in the pre-publicity as the equivalent of a drug trip. But, in truth, Senior is more likely to get you addicted to motorways than Class A’s. This dreamy, optimistic yet pulsing sound is pure autobahn, reviving memories of Kraftwerk, obviously, but also the rapturous electro travelogues of early Simple Minds. Analog synths keen and undulate, and build serenely toward blissed-out states of grace, particularly on the epic and darkly euphoric Tricky Two and The Fear.
Even with stiff competition from Hot Chip, S*** Robot, Grasscut, Underworld, Ninca Leece and LCD Soundsystem, Senior makes a strong claim to be 2010’s best electronic album. It’s a record to lie back and drown in.
--Garry MulhollandFind more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
When Junior came out, there were some Röyksopp fans of old who complained vociferously that this wasn't the laid back trippy sound of Melody A.M. they expected from the duo and had been waiting for since The Understanding. I loved their third album and still listen to the tracks and the official and unofficial remixes often, as indeed I do with their other two albums. There are some fans like me, who have loved every album so far, and others who only really liked one or two and complain that the others are not exactly the same as them. I like it best when bands move on, as sticking to one sound for too long can ruin their credibility and freshness.
So now we have Senior, which I wouldn't be surprised if many Röyksopp fans had believed was going to be Melody A.M. 2.0. It's not that much like it, which is a relief to be honest - Melody A.M. was a record of its time, and I'm glad they haven't exploited it by mining that sound to recycle it - instead they have made a very introspective and often experimental album that lives up to their promise of a record that works best when you listen to it as a whole.
Unlike Junior it is an instrumental album, though there are occasionally some faint and indistinct vocals floating around in the background, and occasionally voices come out into the foreground to jolt you out of whatever trance the record may have put you in. Fall asleep with this record on and near the end you will be woken into an anxious state by some weird and disturbing noises.
If you're in two minds about getting this album, listen to Tricky Two, The Drug and Forsaken Cowboy. The other tracks are great too, but these three will sell it to you. Tricky Two, as you could probably guess, takes the main hook and some other elements from its hyperactive `younger' sibling Tricky Tricky and mixes it all into an ever building powerhouse of a track that somehow manages to keep a laid back feel throughout. To describe the other tracks - the ones you don't already know some element of - would run the risk of not doing them justice.
So now we have Senior, which I wouldn't be surprised if many Röyksopp fans had believed was going to be Melody A.M. 2.0. It's not that much like it, which is a relief to be honest - Melody A.M. was a record of its time, and I'm glad they haven't exploited it by mining that sound to recycle it - instead they have made a very introspective and often experimental album that lives up to their promise of a record that works best when you listen to it as a whole.
Unlike Junior it is an instrumental album, though there are occasionally some faint and indistinct vocals floating around in the background, and occasionally voices come out into the foreground to jolt you out of whatever trance the record may have put you in. Fall asleep with this record on and near the end you will be woken into an anxious state by some weird and disturbing noises.
If you're in two minds about getting this album, listen to Tricky Two, The Drug and Forsaken Cowboy. The other tracks are great too, but these three will sell it to you. Tricky Two, as you could probably guess, takes the main hook and some other elements from its hyperactive `younger' sibling Tricky Tricky and mixes it all into an ever building powerhouse of a track that somehow manages to keep a laid back feel throughout. To describe the other tracks - the ones you don't already know some element of - would run the risk of not doing them justice.
Format:Audio CD
This album was just as good as I expected,good album by a fab group in great condition and delivered quickly.
Format:Audio CD
I've been hooked on Royksopp since a lucky channel-hop moment where I caught "Poor Leno" on MTV. I had to investigate this tune, and went on to fall in love with the output from this team.
And I've continued to derive great musical pleasure from "Senior". Its pace ebbs and flows, from the dreamy "Senior Living" to the mellow "The Drug" to jumpy "Tricky Two" - all of which smack of Royksopp. If you appreciated previous material, you'll appreciate "Senior" as a maturing of their style and music.
And I've continued to derive great musical pleasure from "Senior". Its pace ebbs and flows, from the dreamy "Senior Living" to the mellow "The Drug" to jumpy "Tricky Two" - all of which smack of Royksopp. If you appreciated previous material, you'll appreciate "Senior" as a maturing of their style and music.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Quietly briliant.
I had a bit of a hiatus with listening to Royksopp and when I came back, this is what I found. Brilliant to listen to if you want something quiet but absorbing. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Luincalen
Ok if you are in the mood for it
Senior is an almost entirely intrumental album. You have to be in the mood to listen to it, in which case it does seem to tell a story without words. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Charles Gosling
The best Royksopp yet
I have been a fan of electronic music for many years now. Starting with Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Jean Michele Jarre. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mike
Almost as good as Melody A.m
this album might be what some of röyksopp's fans have been waiting since their debut album melody a.m. Read more
Published 16 months ago by bcebce
Return To Form
I've followed Royksopp since the start and, to be honest, none of their subsequent recoording had equalled their debut Melody A.M. for quality and accessibility. Read more
Published 17 months ago by C. M. Weeks
Good value
Very good album, but the LP I received was not sealed and had a minor scratch on it. Fortunately, the LP works anyway.
Published 19 months ago by Aegis1383
New album, new awesomeness!
After a new perspective on electronic music with Junior, Senior arrives with much more relaxed, but still very good tunes. You gotta love this guys!
Published 19 months ago by Luis Monteiro
Builds on previous albums
I think the previous reviews have summed up this album pretty accurately, however, I am a little more simple in my review in that I just love this album (although I would not... Read more
Published 19 months ago by T Phillips
the other side of Royksopp
After the youthful exuberance of Junior, Royksopp take a very different direction in this follow up. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Jeremy Williams
More from Norway's finest
Packaged in plain black and with minimalist information, "Senior" is the 2nd part of 2009's "Junior". Read more
Published 20 months ago by LXIX
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