Röyksopp Forever

The internet is freaking out over the new Röyksopp album, Junior.

On the official release date of March 23rd, this album should definitely be part of your CD/Mp3 collection. If you are already a Röyksopp fan, you won't regret the purchase even if you don't think the album is the best of the three studio albums they've released. If you aren't a Röyksopp fan, perhaps this review will encourage you to become one.

Röyksopp is a Norwegian electronic duo that are electro geniuses in my mind. All their songs, new and old, are produced with a lot of emotion. The new album, Junior, has a song that will suit every mood of the week. Starting off with "Happy Up Here", this song will suit that hyper mood that encourages you to bounce around the room like a video game character. And ending with "It's What I Want", you will find this "life" song fits that mood that comes over you before you go sleep.

I'm having a hard time figuring out whether or not Junior is a better album than The Understanding (2005). Both are very good and follow similar structures, but I think Junior conquers my world a little more than The Understanding. The fact that Junior has so many Scandinavian collaborations on it may be the reason for this (collaborations include: The Knife's Karin Dreijer, Robyn and Lykke Li).

So far, there are a couple of songs that really, really stand out to me:
One being "Miss it so much" featuring Lykke Li. I know what you're thinking, maybe it only stands out to me because Lykke Li is in it. Yes, this may be the case but it is a good song besides the fact that Lykke Li is in it. The best part of this song is the middle; the use of a voice fade-in to aid the peak of the song is very nice on the ears.

"The Girl and the Robot" is another song that really stands out. This one features Robyn singing about a man/robot who she is desperately in love with but he's not into it. This song is a good one for the dance floor. It has a super intense beat that kind of feels like it could shake the world if played on the right speakers.

"Röyksopp Forever" is an instrumental that reminds me of the song, "Triumphant", from The Understanding. Both are beautifully orchestrated instrumentals that hit an emotional limit that never seemed possible before.

There also seems to be a cyborg theme emanating from this album. Lyrics like "mechanical heart" and "I'm in love with a robot" make me think Röyksopp is doing an excellent job of reflecting the modern world.

So far in Röyksopp's musical career, they never seem to disappoint; only unbelievably satisfy.

Röyksopp - Happy Up Here