Senior (album)

Senior
Studio album by Röyksopp
Released 8 September 2010
Genre
Length 54:14
Label Wall of Sound
Producer Röyksopp
Röyksopp chronology

Junior
(2009)		 Senior
(2010)		 Late Night Tales: Röyksopp
(2013)
Singles from Senior
  1. "The Drug"
    Released: 8 August 2010
  2. "Forsaken Cowboy"
    Released: 25 February 2011
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 61/100[1]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [2]
BBC Music very positive[3]
Filter 70%[4]
Metro positive[5]
musicOMH [6]
NME mixed[7]
Now 3/5[8]
Pitchfork Media 6.0/10[9]
PopMatters 4/10[10]
Under the Radar [11]

Senior is the fourth studio album by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp, released on 8 September 2010 by Wall of Sound. Consisting of instrumental tracks only, the album is described as more introspective and withdrawn than its predecessor, Junior (2009). The CD's final track "A Long, Long Way" also includes the hidden track "The Final Day", which is available as a separate track on the iTunes Store.[12]

The album debuted at number thirty-three on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 3,864 copies.[13]

Background

Senior is intended to be an introspective, withdrawn, atmospheric counterpart to the "bubbly dance grooves" of Junior (2009),[14][15] with Röyksopp stating it has a more "autumn mood" to it, in contrast to Junior‍ '​s "spring feel".[16] In an interview with KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, Svein Berge dubbed Senior "the senile sibling of Junior who lives in the attic".[17] Berge cited "The Alcoholic" as a standout track, explaining that they had "this romantic, nostalgic idea based on this hobo who hitchhikes on trains and travels from place to place".[16]

Promotion

To promote Senior, Röyksopp released a ten-minute film titled Röyksopp's Adventures in Barbieland on 6 August 2010, containing six tracks from the album. Directed by Andreas Nilsson, the film shows Röyksopp living as two elderly musicians in a house full of Barbie dolls.[18]

The music video for "The Drug", directed by Norwegian film duo That Go (Noel Paul and Stefan Moore), premiered online on 3 September 2010.[19] The video features three girls (Amanda Bauer, Jessie Vanatta and Jenna Lammert)[20] in airbrushed T-shirts walking through an apocalyptic landscape in Detroit, Michigan.[19][21] An extended, ten-minute cut of the video, redubbed "Senior Living", that uses six tracks from the album was released on 18 November 2010.[21]

On 4 November 2010, Röyksopp partnered with Genero.tv to launch a competition allowing fans to create videos for each one of the tracks from Senior.[22][23] The winners were announced on 27 January 2011, with a video for "The Alcoholic" being chosen as the overall winner.[24]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland. 

No. Title Length
1. "....And the Forest Began to Sing"   1:50
2. "Tricky Two"   7:51
3. "The Alcoholic"   5:10
4. "Senior Living"   5:09
5. "The Drug"   5:58
6. "Forsaken Cowboy"   5:28
7. "The Fear"   7:01
8. "Coming Home"   5:05
9. "A Long, Long Way"   4:00
10. "The Final Day" (hidden track) 6:42

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Senior.[25]

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[26] 80
Australian Dance Albums Chart[27] 12
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[28] 21
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[29] 31
Danish Albums Chart[30] 30
Dutch Albums Chart[31] 41
European Top 100 Albums[32] 28
French Albums Chart[33] 128
German Albums Chart[34] 52
Greek Albums Chart[35] 33
Irish Albums Chart[36] 58
Irish Independent Albums Chart[37] 8
Japanese Albums Chart[38] 226
Norwegian Albums Chart[39] 1
Swedish Albums Chart[40] 17
Swiss Albums Chart[41] 28
UK Albums Chart[42] 33
UK Dance Albums Chart[43] 4
UK Indie Albums Chart[44] 3
US Dance/Electronic Albums[45] 18
US Heatseekers Albums[46] 46

Release history

Region Date Label
Japan[47] 8 September 2010 EMI
Australia[48] 10 September 2010
Germany[49] PIAS Recordings
France[50] 13 September 2010
Norway[51] Virgin Records
United Kingdom[52] Wall of Sound
United States[53] 22 September 2010 MB3 Records

References

  1. ↑ "Senior – Röyksopp". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  2. ↑ Bush, John. "Senior – Röyksopp". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  3. ↑ Mulholland, Garry (3 September 2010). "Review of Röyksopp – Senior". BBC Music. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  4. ↑ Vallejos, Tamara (22 December 2010). "Röyksopp – Senior". Filter. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  5. ↑ Heller, Robert (17 September 2010). "Röyksopp's Senior: A lovely electronic indulgence". Metro. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  6. ↑ Raymond, Max. "Röyksopp – Senior". musicOMH. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Naylor, Tony (24 September 2010). "Album Review: Royksopp – Senior (Wall Of Sound)". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  8. ↑ Bimm, Jordan (25 November – 2 December 2010). "Röyksopp – Senior". Now 30 (13). Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  9. ↑ Love, Joshua (13 September 2010). "Röyksopp: Senior". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  10. ↑ Copplestone, Joe (27 October 2010). "Röyksopp: Senior". PopMatters. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  11. ↑ Studarus, Laura (19 October 2010). "Röyksopp: Senior (Wall of Sound)". Under the Radar. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  12. ↑ "Senior by Röyksopp". iTunes Store Norway. Apple. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  13. ↑ "Burke and The Script are top of charts". Music Week. Intent Media. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  14. ↑ Johnson, Andy (23 February 2009). "TLOBF Interview: Röyksopp". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  15. ↑ Seaman, Duncan (3 November 2009). "INTERVIEW: Royksopp". Yorkshire Evening Post. Johnston Press. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Jones, Damian (20 March 2009). "Röyksopp return with third album". Newsbeat. BBC News Online. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
  17. ↑ Bentley, Jason (18 November 2009). "Royksopp Live at KCRW on Morning Becomes Eclectic 11.18.09". KCRW. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
  18. ↑ "Röyksopp's Adventures in Barbieland". royksopp.com. 9 August 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Breihan, Tom (3 September 2010). "Video: Röyksopp: "The Drug"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  20. ↑ "Royksopp – The Drug". Vimeo. 18 August 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Dombal, Ryan (18 November 2010). "Röyksopp Share Short Film, Tour Dates". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  22. ↑ "Make the videos for 'Senior'!". royksopp.com. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  23. ↑ Murray, Robin (5 November 2010). "Royksopp Launch New Video Competition". Clash. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  24. ↑ "Royksopp Winners". Genero.tv. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  25. ↑ Senior (CD liner notes). Röyksopp. Wall of Sound. 2010. WOS080CD.
  26. ↑ "ARIA Top 100 Albums – Week Commencing 20th September 2010" (PDF). ARIA Charts. Pandora Archive. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  27. ↑ "ARIA Dance – Week Commencing 20th September 2010" (PDF). ARIA Charts. Pandora Archive. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  28. ↑ "Röyksopp – Senior" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  29. ↑ "Röyksopp – Senior" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  30. ↑ "Röyksopp – Senior". danishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  31. ↑ "Röyksopp – Senior" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. 18 September 2010.
  32. ↑ "European Albums – Week of October 02, 2010". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  33. ↑ "Röyksopp – Senior" (in French). lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  34. ↑ "Röyksopp, Senior" (in German). charts.de. Media Control. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  35. ↑ "Röyksopp – Senior". greekcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  36. ↑ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 16 September 2010". Chart-Track. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  37. ↑ "Top 10 Independent Artist Albums, Week Ending 16 September 2010". Chart-Track. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  38. ↑ 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 27 February 2012.
  39. ↑ "Röyksopp – Senior". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  40. ↑ "Röyksopp – Senior". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  41. ↑ "Röyksopp – Senior". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  42. ↑ "2010 Top 40 Official Albums Chart UK Archive". Official Charts Company. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  43. ↑ "2010 Top 40 Dance Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  44. ↑ "2010 Top 40 Independent Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  45. ↑ "Röyksopp – Chart history: Dance/Electronic Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  46. ↑ "Röyksopp – Chart history: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  47. ↑ "Senior : Royksopp". HMV Japan. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  48. ↑ "Senior". Sanity. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  49. ↑ "Senior" (in German). Amazon.de. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  50. ↑ "Senior – Röyksopp" (in French). Fnac. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  51. ↑ "Senior – Röyksopp" (in Norwegian). CDON.no. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  52. ↑ "Releases / Senior". Wall of Sound. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  53. ↑ "Senior". Amazon.com. Retrieved 12 February 2014.