Junior (Röyksopp album)

Junior
Studio album by Röyksopp
Released	18 March 2009
Genre	Synthpop alternative dance downtempo
Length	50:55
Label	Wall of Sound
Producer	Röyksopp
Röyksopp chronology
Back to Mine: Röyksopp (2007) Junior (2009) Senior (2010)
Singles from Junior
"Happy Up Here" Released: 19 January 2009 "The Girl and the Robot" Released: 15 June 2009 "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 21 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	[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 weighted mean 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 30 on Pitchfork Media's Top 50 Albums of 2009,^[21] number 19 on Popjustice's The Top 33 Albums of 2009^[22] and number 21 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.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Happy Up Here"	George Clinton Garry Shider Bernard Worrell	2:44
2.	"The Girl and the Robot"	Robyn	4:28
3.	"Vision One"	Anneli Drecker Yusuke Chiba Shinichi Osawa	4:59
4.	"This Must Be It"	Karin Dreijer Andersson	4:41
5.	"Röyksopp Forever"	David Foster Ted Lewis	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

iTunes Store bonus track[24]
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Across the Graveyard"	4:23

Japanese edition bonus track[25]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Were You Ever Wanted"	Li	5:37

Notes

• "Happy Up Here" contains a sample of "Do That Stuff" by Parliament.^[26]
• "Vision One" is an English-language version of Röyksopp's remix of "Sing a Song" by Eri Nobuchika.^[26][27]
• "Röyksopp Forever" contains a sample of "Suites for My Lady" by Skylark.^[26]

Personnel

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

• Röyksopp – production, programming, synthesiser, sampling (all tracks); vocals (on "The Girl and the Robot" and "It's What I Want"); strings, string arrangements (on "The Girl and the Robot"); vocoded mystique (on "Tricky Tricky"); bass (on "True to Life")
• Kato Ådland – bass (on "Röyksopp Forever")
• Stian Andersen – cover photography
• Karin Dreijer Andersson – vocals (on "This Must Be It" and "Tricky Tricky")
• Leslie David – artwork, drawings
• Anneli Drecker – vocals (on "Vision One", "You Don't Have a Clue", "True to Life" and "Across the Graveyard"); backing vocals (on "The Girl and the Robot" and "It's What I Want")
• Lindy Fay Hella – additional vocals (on "Röyksopp Forever")
• Lykke Li – vocals (on "Miss It So Much" and "Were You Ever Wanted")
• Mike Marsh – mastering
• Robyn – vocals (on "The Girl and the Robot")
• Davide Rossi – strings, string arrangements (on "The Girl and the Robot", "Röyksopp Forever", "You Don't Have a Clue" and "Silver Cruiser")
• Ole Vegard Skauge – bass (on "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 Foreign 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 Scottish Albums Chart[43] 32 Swedish Albums Chart[44] 25 Swiss Albums Chart[45] 18 UK Albums Chart[46] 21 UK Dance Albums Chart[47] 2 UK Independent Albums Chart[48] 1 US Billboard 200[49] 126 US Dance/Electronic Albums[50] 4

Year-end charts Chart (2009) Position Australian Dance Albums Chart[51] 42

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Ref.
Japan	18 March 2009	EMI	[25]
Australia	20 March 2009		[52]
Germany			[53]
Italy			[54]
France	23 March 2009	Labels	[55]
Norway		Virgin	[56]
United Kingdom		Wall of Sound	[57]
United States	24 March 2009	Astralwerks	[58]

References

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2. Suarez, Jessica (5 January 2009). "Progress Report: Röyksopp". Stereogum. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
3. "Yes men lose out on the top spot". Music Week. Intent Media. 30 March 2009. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
4. "Key Releases: 18.09.10.". Music Week. HighBeam Research. 18 September 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
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