Junior (Röyksopp album)

Junior
Studio album by
Röyksopp
Released18 March 2009 (2009-03-18)
Genre
Length50:55
LabelWall of Sound
ProducerRöyksopp
Röyksopp chronology
Back to Mine: Röyksopp
(2007) 		Junior
(2009) 		Senior
(2010)
Singles from Junior
  1. "Happy Up Here"
    Released: 19 January 2009
  2. "The Girl and the Robot"
    Released: 15 June 2009
  3. "This Must Be It"
    Released: 23 October 2009

Junior is the third studio album by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp. It was released on 18 March 2009 by Wall of Sound. Prior to its official release, the album was made available for listening on the duo's website on 13 March 2009.[3]

Background and history

The album features guest vocals from Scandinavian singers Robyn, Karin Dreijer, Lykke Li and Anneli Drecker.[4]

Junior debuted at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 10,378 copies in its first week.[5] By September 2010, the album had sold 36,239 copies in the United Kingdom.[6] The album's lead single, "Happy Up Here", premiered on 9 January 2009 on Pete Tong's Essential Selection on BBC Radio 1,[7] and was officially released on 19 January.[8] "The Girl and the Robot", which features Swedish singer Robyn, was released on 15 June 2009 as the album's second single.[9] "This Must Be It" features Dreijer and was released on 23 October 2009 as the third single.[10]

Use in media

"It's What I Want" was included in the official soundtrack of the EA Sports video game, FIFA 10. "Röyksopp Forever" was also used in the background of the Flashforward Channel 5 promos during September 2009 and used as backing music on The X Factor 2009 in live shows. An instrumental version of "Vision One" was licensed for use in the video game LittleBigPlanet 2.[11] "This Must Be It" was included in the soundtrack to the 2011 comedy film Hall Pass.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.8/10[12]
Metacritic74/100[13]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
The Guardian[15]
NME6/10[16]
The Observer[17]
Pitchfork7.9/10[18]
PopMatters7/10[19]
Slant Magazine[20]
Spin7/10[21]
The Times[22]
URB[23]

Junior received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 74, based on 21 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[13] The album was placed at number 30 on Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2009,[24] number 19 on Popjustice's The Top 33 Albums of 2009[25] and number 21 on Mixmag's Top 50 Albums of 2009.[26]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland; additional writers indicated

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Happy Up Here"
2:44
2."The Girl and the Robot"Robyn4:28
3."Vision One"
4:59
4."This Must Be It"Karin Dreijer Andersson4:41
5."Röyksopp Forever"
4:59
6."Miss It So Much"Lykke Li5:01
7."Tricky Tricky"Andersson5:58
8."You Don't Have a Clue"Drecker4:31
9."Silver Cruiser" 4:36
10."True to Life"Drecker5:50
11."It's What I Want" 3:06
iTunes Store bonus track[27]
No.TitleLength
12."Across the Graveyard"4:23
Japanese edition bonus track[28]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Were You Ever Wanted"Li5:37

Notes

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Junior.[29]

  • Röyksopp – production, mastering (all tracks); vocals (tracks 2, 11); string arrangements, strings (track 2); vocoded mystique (track 7); backing vocals (track 8); bass (track 10)
  • Robyn – vocals (track 2)
  • Anneli Drecker – backing vocals (tracks 2, 11); vocals (tracks 3, 8, 10 and "Across the Graveyard")
  • Davide Rossi – string arrangements, strings (tracks 2, 5, 8, 9)
  • Karin Dreijer Andersson – vocals (tracks 4, 7)
  • Kato Ådland – bass (track 5)
  • Lindy-Fay Hella – additional vocals (track 5)
  • Lykke Li – vocals (track 6 and "Were You Ever Wanted")
  • Ole Vegard Skauge – bass (track 10)
  • Mike Marsh – mastering
  • Stian Andersen – cover photography
  • Leslie David – drawings, artwork

Charts

Release history

Region Date Label Ref.
Japan 18 March 2009 EMI [28]
Australia 20 March 2009 [55]
Germany [56]
Italy [57]
France 23 March 2009 Labels [58]
Norway Virgin [59]
United Kingdom Wall of Sound [60]
United States 24 March 2009 Astralwerks [61]

References

  1. ^ Johnson, Andy (18 March 2018). "Röyksopp – Junior". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  2. ^ Embling (24 March 2009). "Röyksopp – Junior". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Junior | Röyksopp music". Royksopp.com. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  4. ^ Suarez, Jessica (5 January 2009). "Progress Report: Röyksopp". Stereogum. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Yes men lose out on the top spot". Music Week. 30 March 2009. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  6. ^ "Key Releases: 18.09.10". Music Week. 18 September 2010. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2014 – via HighBeam Research.
  7. ^ "Röyksopp on Pete Tong's Essential Selection". Royksopp.com. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  8. ^ "Happy Up Here – Single by Röyksopp". iTunes Store. Norway. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  9. ^ "The Girl and the Robot by Röyksopp". iTunes Store. Norway. 12 June 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  10. ^ "This Must Be It – EP by Röyksopp". iTunes Store. Norway. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  11. ^ "List of LBP2 Licensed Music! [Archive] - LittleBigPlanet Central Forums". 29 May 2021. Archived from the original on 29 May 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  12. ^ "Junior by Röyksopp reviews | Any Decent Music". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Reviews for Junior by Röyksopp". Metacritic. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  14. ^ Bush, John. "Junior – Röyksopp". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  15. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (20 March 2009). "Röyksopp: Junior". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  16. ^ Hoban, Alex (30 March 2009). "Album review: Royksopp". NME. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  17. ^ Mardles, Paul (15 March 2009). "Röyksopp: Junior". The Observer. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  18. ^ Pytlik, Mark (25 March 2009). "Röyksopp: Junior". Pitchfork. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  19. ^ Raper, Dan (23 March 2009). "Röyksopp: Junior". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  20. ^ Cataldo, Jesse (30 March 2009). "Röyksopp: Junior". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  21. ^ Walters, Barry (April 2009). "Reviews". Spin. Vol. 25, no. 4. p. 82. ISSN 0886-3032 – via Google Books.
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  25. ^ "The Top 33 Albums Of 2009. (It's a list of albums.)". Popjustice. 30 December 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  26. ^ "Top 50 Albums". Mixmag. January 2010. p. 49. ISSN 0957-6622.
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