Junior (Röyksopp album)

Junior
Studio album by Röyksopp
Released 18 March 2009
Genre
Length 50:55
Label Wall of Sound
Producer Röyksopp
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, 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.[1] Described as a mix between the styles of Röyksopp's two previous studio albums, Melody A.M. and The Understanding, the album features guest vocals from Scandinavian female singers Robyn, Karin Dreijer Andersson, Lykke Li and Anneli Drecker.[2]

Junior debuted at number twenty-one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 10,378 copies in its first week.[3] By September 2010, the album had sold 36,239 copies in the United Kingdom.[4] The album's lead single, "Happy Up Here", premiered on 9 January 2009 on Pete Tong's Essential Selection on BBC Radio 1,[5] and was officially released on 19 January.[6] "The Girl and the Robot", which features Swedish singer Robyn, was released on 15 June 2009 as the album's second single.[7] "This Must Be It" features Andersson and was released on 23 October 2009 as the third single.[8]

"It's What I Want" was included as a part of the official soundtrack to the Electronic Arts 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.[9] "This Must Be It" was included in the soundtrack to the 2011 comedy film Hall Pass.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 74/100[10]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [11]
The Guardian [12]
NME 6/10[13]
The Observer [14]
Pitchfork Media 7.9/10[15]
PopMatters 7/10[16]
Slant Magazine [17]
Spin 7/10[18]
The Times [19]
URB [20]

Junior received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 21 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[10] The album was placed at number thirty on Pitchfork Media's Top 50 Albums of 2009,[21] number nineteen on Popjustice's The Top 33 Albums of 2009[22] and number twenty-one on Mixmag‍ '​s Top 50 Albums of 2009.[23]

Track listing

All songs written and composed 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"  Robyn 4:28
3. "Vision One"  
 4:59
4. "This Must Be It"  Karin Dreijer Andersson 4:41
5. "Röyksopp Forever"  
 4:59
6. "Miss It So Much"  Lykke Li 5:01
7. "Tricky Tricky"  Andersson 5:58
8. "You Don't Have a Clue"  Drecker 4:31
9. "Silver Cruiser"    4:36
10. "True to Life"  Drecker 5:50
11. "It's What I Want"    3:06
Notes

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Junior.[26]

  • Röyksopp – production, programming, synthesiser, sampling (all tracks); vocals ("The Girl and the Robot", "It's What I Want"); strings, string arrangements ("The Girl and the Robot"); vocoded mystique ("Tricky Tricky"); bass ("True to Life")
  • Kato Ådland – bass ("Röyksopp Forever")
  • Stian Andersen – cover photography
  • Karin Dreijer Andersson – vocals ("This Must Be It", "Tricky Tricky")
  • Leslie David – artwork, drawings
  • Anneli Drecker – vocals ("Vision One", "You Don't Have a Clue", "True to Life", "Across the Graveyard"); backing vocals ("The Girl and the Robot", "It's What I Want")
  • Lindy Fay Hella – additional vocals ("Röyksopp Forever")
  • Lykke Li – vocals ("Miss It So Much", "Were You Ever Wanted")
  • Mike Marsh – mastering
  • Robyn – vocals ("The Girl and the Robot")
  • Davide Rossi – strings, string arrangements ("The Girl and the Robot", "Röyksopp Forever", "You Don't Have a Clue", "Silver Cruiser")
  • Ole Vegard Skauge – bass ("True to Life")

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[28] 28
Australian Dance Albums Chart[29] 7
Austrian Albums Chart[30] 65
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[31] 10
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[32] 43
Croatian International Albums Chart[33] 16
Danish Albums Chart[34] 17
Dutch Albums Chart[35] 43
European Top 100 Albums[36] 18
French Albums Chart[37] 70
German Albums Chart[38] 35
Irish Albums Chart[39] 52
Italian Albums Chart[40] 45
Japanese Albums Chart[41] 74
Norwegian Albums Chart[42] 1
Swedish Albums Chart[43] 25
Swiss Albums Chart[44] 18
UK Albums Chart[45] 21
US Billboard 200[46] 126
US Dance/Electronic Albums[47] 4

Year-end charts

Chart (2009) Position
Australian Dance Albums Chart[48] 42

Release history

Region Date Label
Japan[25] 18 March 2009 EMI
Australia[49] 20 March 2009
Germany[50]
Italy[51]
France[52] 23 March 2009 Labels
Norway[53] Virgin Records
United Kingdom[54] Wall of Sound
United States[55] 24 March 2009 Astralwerks

References

  1. ↑ "Junior | Röyksopp music". royksopp.com. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  2. ↑ Suarez, Jessica (5 January 2009). "Röyksopp – Progress Report". Stereogum. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  3. ↑ "Yes men lose out on the top spot". Music Week. Intent Media. 30 March 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Key Releases: 18.09.10.". Music Week. HighBeam Research. 18 September 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "Röyksopp on Pete Tong's Essential Selection". royksopp.com. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "Happy Up Here – Single by Röyksopp". iTunes Store Norway. Apple. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "The Girl and the Robot by Röyksopp". iTunes Store Norway. Apple. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "This Must Be It – EP by Röyksopp". iTunes Store Norway. Apple. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  9. ↑ "List of LBP2 Licensed Music!". LittleBigPlanet Central. 11 November 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Junior – Röyksopp". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  11. ↑ Bush, John. "Junior – Röyksopp". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  12. ↑ Lynskey, Dorian (20 March 2009). "Röyksopp: Junior". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  13. ↑ Hoban, Alex (30 March 2009). "Album review: Royksopp". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  14. ↑ Mardles, Paul (15 March 2009). "Röyksopp: Junior". The Observer. theguardian.com. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  15. ↑ Pytlik, Mark (25 March 2009). "Röyksopp: Junior". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  16. ↑ Raper, Dan (23 March 2009). "Röyksopp: Junior". PopMatters. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  17. ↑ Cataldo, Jesse (30 March 2009). "Röyksopp: Junior". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  18. ↑ Walters, Barry (April 2009). "Reviews". Spin 25 (4): 82. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  19. ↑ Paphides, Peter (21 March 2009). "Röyksopp: Junior". The Times. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  20. ↑ "Royksopp – Junior". URB. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  21. ↑ "The Top 50 Albums of 2009". Pitchfork Media. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2009.
  22. ↑ "The Top 33 Albums Of 2009. (It's a list of albums.)". Popjustice. 30 December 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  23. ↑ "Top 50 Albums". Mixmag: 49. January 2010.
  24. ↑ "Junior by Röyksopp". iTunes Store Norway. Apple. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "ROYKSOPP: Junior" (in Japanese). EMI Music Japan. Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Junior (CD liner notes). Röyksopp. Wall of Sound. 2009. WOS051CD.
  27. ↑ Miller, Jr., Neil (11 May 2009). "Royksopp || Junior". UR Chicago. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
  28. ↑ "Röyksopp – Junior". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  29. ↑ "ARIA Dance – Week Commencing 30th March 2009" (PDF). ARIA Charts. Pandora Archive. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  30. ↑ "Röyksopp – Junior" (in German). austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  31. ↑ "Röyksopp – Junior" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  32. ↑ "Röyksopp – Junior" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  33. ↑ "Top Stranih – Tjedan 20. 2009." (in Croatian). Hrvatska Diskografska Udruga. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  34. ↑ "Röyksopp – Junior". danishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  35. ↑ "Röyksopp – Junior" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  36. ↑ "European Top 20 Charts – Week Commencing 6th April 2009" (PDF). Billboard. Pandora Archive. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  37. ↑ "Röyksopp – Junior" (in French). lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  38. ↑ "Röyksopp, Junior" (in German). charts.de. Media Control. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  39. ↑ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 2 April 2009". Chart-Track. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  40. ↑ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 14 (dal 23-03-2009 al 29-03-2009)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  41. ↑ ロイクソップのアルバム売り上げランキング [Röyksopp album sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  42. ↑ "Röyksopp – Junior". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  43. ↑ "Röyksopp – Junior". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  44. ↑ "Röyksopp – Junior". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
  45. ↑ "2009 Top 40 Official Albums Chart UK Archive". Official Charts Company. 4 April 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  46. ↑ "Röyksopp – Chart history: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  47. ↑ "Röyksopp – Chart history: Dance/Electronic Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  48. ↑ "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 50 Dance Albums 2009". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  49. ↑ "Junior – Royksopp". JB Hi-Fi. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  50. ↑ "Junior" (in German). Amazon.de. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  51. ↑ "Röyksopp – Junior" (in Italian). Internet Bookshop Italia. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  52. ↑ "Junior – Röyksopp" (in French). Fnac. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  53. ↑ "Junior – Röyksopp" (in Norwegian). CDON.no. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  54. ↑ "Royksopp: Junior". HMV. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  55. ↑ "Junior". Amazon.com. Retrieved 21 September 2011.