I, like many people, am a big fan of Röyksopp's debut album "Melody AM". Released during the height of the "chill out" craze, it struck a perfect balance between laid back trip-hop beats, Air-inspired vintage keyboards, inspired guest vocalists, and all underpinned with a very Scandinavian sense of style. Since then, however, their last few records have been a disappointment as they largely abandoned the "chill out" style for a more upbeat, Euro-dance style which I really wasn't into at all.
Their 2009 album "Junior" was a success around the world, and did contain one great track, "Happy Up Here". However the rest was very middle of the road dance music. I mean, the singer Robyn appeared on one track! Not good.
"Senior" is a different story however. Released in September of 2010, it was everything its predecessor wasn't - ambient, dark, introspective, and entirely instrumental. And you know what? It's great. Far and away the best thing they've done since that debut all those years ago.
The album takes little for granted and doesn't pander to an audience expecting a front-loaded record: Indeed, the opening track "....And the Forest Began to Sing" is just a short scene-setting piece before the first track kicks in, the jittery "Tricky Two". The band themselves describe the album as having "an autumn mood", and this is evident on probably the best track, "Senior Living". To me this sounds like a mid-90s U2 outtake - it could easily have served as a backing track for a Pop or Passengers album track. Containing some woozy Edge-like guitar, I keep expecting a gravelly voiced Bono to make an appearance. Second to best is "The Drug", which is a very close approximation of early Aphex Twin. This was actually released as a single and I've linked to the video for it.
Its an album that almost slips under your radar, until you realise how much you are loving it. Definitely worth checking out, good listening for these long cold winter nights. Settle in a bean bag with a roaring fire and cup of hot chocolate and stick this on!
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