The Girl and the Robot

On first listen I wasn’t sure what to make of Röyksopp’s latest effort, Junior. Other than the first track, the stand-out Happy Up Here (which also has a stunning video) the album didn’t seem to have either sense of fun (Eple, Remind Me) or the sheer get-on-the-floor danceability (Only This Moment, Beautiful Day Without You) of Melody or Understanding.

Then there was the feeling that guest vocalists Robyn and The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson were being chronically underused. Witness Dreijer Andersson’s stunning vocals on her Fever Ray release this year and compare it to the nursery school chanting on Tricky Tricky (“six afraid of seven, ‘cause seven ate nine”) and you have to scratch your head and wonder what the grand plan is.

Each of the tracks are great individually, but as a whole there is an underlying sweetness to that left me wanting the downtempo and darker side to Röyksopp that balanced the first two albums so well. Then I read a couple of interviews with the band and discovered that the second part of the album, the more moody and atmospheric Senior is due to drop later this year.

I guess it’s a sum of all parts thing, then. Until then, I guess I’ll just keep listening to This Must Be It on repeat and wait for the remixers to get their hands dirty.

Posted in Flatbeat on Sunday May 31, 2009.