Artist: Royksopp

Album: Junior

Genre: Electronic/”Electronica”

Label: Wall Of Sound

Released: March 23, 2009

Pingu is seldom heard in contemporary form today, apart from a prolific run on the BBC children’s TV series’ namesake between 1986 and 2007. But Royksopp’s newest single released last month, Happy Up Here, contains bizarre electronics which have been compared by Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles to the Antarctic penguin through a melodic resonance layered across the Norwegian group’s opening track. However Pingu’s return to prominence does not fail to overshadow what is a formidable effort from the act most famous for their dreamy chillout classic, Eple, in 2001. Despite the unique bass synthesizer sound emulating a thematic Pingu ensemble, Royksopp’s Torbjorn Brundtland and Svein Berge have retained the catchy sounds they are renowned for on previous albums Melody AM and The Understanding and have added to the Goldfrapp meets Scissor Sisters intertwined with atmospheric Kraftwerkian rhythms, bleeps and grooves to meld a curiously individual, but pleasant blend on third studio album, Junior.

Happy Up Here is itself an emphatic looping melody with euphoric strings and robotic vocoder layering the background, with minimalist vocals and also becomes a chillout dance track in its own right, if it weren’t for its uptempo kick drum maintaing the song’s pace. However the next track, which features fellow Scandinavian pop artist, Robyn, on The Girl & The Robot, encompasses an even greater industrial feel with swirling synth voice and fuzzy rhythmic clattering resembling a Depeche Mode or an Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark record with Robyn’s infectious vocals knitting nicely with the melody. The song’s mid-tempo pace helps it appeal to a dance audience as it clatters along on bass drum. Whilst Vision One opens as a dreamy instrumental-cum-downtempo affair with shimmering harp and piano partnered by bass but moves towards a worthwhile alien-pop hit almost Gary Numan-esque with lyrics reflecting a decaying cityscape and decline of the human race. But for pop perfectionism the next track, This Must Be It, welcoming The Knife’s vocalist Karin Dreijer Andersson clatters on a steady rhythm with chimey pleasant piano and pop hooks aplenty amidst lyrics evoking darkness including, “Waiting for a beam to break through here” and “Here comes darkness, just afternoon”, resulting in one of the strongest tracks on the album. Other worthwhile hits on the album are Royksopp Forever with its subtle strings and “Trip-hop” beat reminiscent of Massive Attack or Portishead, the uplifting tinkling and Alison Goldfrapp-esque delivery of You Don’t Have A Clue and the sad Goldfrapp meets Moby gem, Miss It So Much which contains potent lyrical imagery and beautiful synthetic programming. However the album isn’t devoid of disappointments, with Tricky Tricky let down by whiney vocals and a pouding dated fuzzy Kraftwerk beat and its nonsenical lyrics, “Its tricky tricky, this little 1 2, well if it is a lunatic we’ll name it after you” and the third rate attempt at an Armand Van Helden rhythmic style with deadpan vocals on True To Life.

But a month after the album’s release, the group have met with positive criticism including Metacritics 78/100 rating of the record with great anticipation for the release of the partner to Junior, unsurprisingly titled Senior which will be due in the latter part of 2009. Whilst Junior may lack the melodious chillout finery of Royksopp’s debut album, Melody AM, the group have adopted Goldfrapp maturity and added some Moby-like sophistication to their already atmospheric mix. The album is certainly more expansive musically and lyrically than MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular and with plentiful synthetic strings, scratchy electronic guitar and appealing Scandinavian vocals from this Tromso act, perhaps an understated record like this deserves greater credit than the more commercially successful MGMT; despite the odd nonsenical nothing making Royksopp what they are. Although far from being as ambiently astute as Leftfield or Moby or securing the Goldfrapp and Kate Bush pop aesthetic, Royksopp have secured a modest and mostly enjoyable hit with Junior.