After the success of their debut album, Norwegian electronic duo Royksopp must have known they’d have their work cut out for them on The Understanding. After all, Melody A.M. was that rare electronic music that appealed to fans regardless of their musical tastes, with its catchy playfulness and well-crafted songs. The Understanding album is less laid back than their previous ones, but it’s no less catchy or clever. If anything, The Understanding sounds like Royksopp have spent much of the time since their last album soaking in the continental sounds of bands like Air. The result is a dance album that’s surprisingly heavy on vocals, most of them by the duo themselves. But, in time-honoured dance tradition, there are also a bevy of female vocalists on hand, including Karin Dreijer from The Knife ("What Else Is There?") and new collaborator Kate Havnevik (single "Only This Moment" and "Circuit Breaker"). The Understanding is a much more grown-up album from Royksopp - it’s not dance music for the kids, but an album for after the kids have gone to bed.
Tracklist:
1. Triumphant
2. Only This Moment
3. 49 Percent
4. Sombre Detune
5. Follow My Ruin
6. Beautiful Day Without You
7. What Else Is There?
8. Circuit Breaker
9. Alpha Male
10. Someone Like Me
11. Dead To The World
12. Tristesse Globale
The new album will be called Junior, will be released March 23 and will feature Robyn, Lykke Li, Anneli Drecker and Karin Dreijer as guest vocalists.
Junior - Tracklist:
1. Happy Up Here
2. The Girl And The Robot
3. Vision One
4. This Must Be It
5. Röyksopp Forever
6. Miss It So Much
7. Tricky Tricky
8. You Don't Have A Clue
9. Silver Cruiser
10. True To Life
11. It's What I Want
Röyksopp - Melody A.M. (2001)
