Ryksopp: ‘Junior’
Artist: Ryksopp
Album: Junior
Genre: Dance/Electronic
Sounds Like: Daft Punk, Air
80 Decibels
It can’t be easy to follow up the legacy of well-known electronica acts like Air, Daft Punk and Justice. Luckily Norwegian duo Ryksopp proves itself capable of putting out accessible electronica music.
For its third album, ‘Junior,’ Ryksopp successfully melds dance conventions with the poppiest of pop. Like last year’s two-man indie rock sensation, MGMT, Ryksopp’s work on its new album displays both technical skill and catchy melodies.
The first track on the album, ‘Happy Up Here,’ begins with a playful laugh, a funk-lined synth beat, and, after thirty seconds of upbeat electronica, the laidback repeating lyric ‘You know I really like it.’
Similar to ‘Time to Pretend’ on last year’s ‘Oracular Spectacular,’ ‘Happy Up Here’ jumpstarts the album with the notion that the new Ryksopp release is going to be fun.
For the most part, the dynamic duo upholds that promise throughout.
Highlights of the album include the numerous guest vocals that the duo masterfully layers into its beats and melodies. One of the album’s best songs, ‘The Girl and the Robot,’ features well-known Swedish singer Robyn. Her voice perfectly complements the textured beat in the background and makes for one of the better dance songs released yet this year.
‘This Must Be It’ is an upbeat track recorded with electropop contemporary Karin Dreijer Andersson, the vocalist from The Knife. ‘This Must Be It’ pulls both lyrical ambiguity and another pop-conscious tune from Ryksopp’s electronic grab bag.
Alternately, the album also includes songs like ‘Ryksopp Forever,’ a downtempo instrumental with classical elements. Its multiple levels of sonic harmonies wouldn’t be out of place in the film scores of Clint Mansell.
For all its high points, though, ‘Junior’ isn’t perfect. The fact remains that much of the second half of the album fails to live up to the mandate of the first song. Tracks like ‘Silver Cruiser’ and ‘It’s What I Want’ sound both musically inferior and misplaced in the context of the album. ‘Silver Cruiser,’ another instrumental track, plays more like a meditation than a dance song, begging the question as to why it was stuck between two pop-perfect dance numbers.
‘It’s What I Want,’ the final track, plays like just another song the duo tacked onto the end because they had nothing more to add, closing the album with the same kind of song heard four tracks prior. The result is an abrupt ending for an otherwise entertaining album – and proper opening and closing tracks can make or break albums.
This dynamic duo does not make mediocre music, but Ryksopp should understand that even pop albums are essentially books; they deserve a beginning, middle and end. Perhaps ‘Senior,’ to be released later this year, will show improvement.
Published on March 29, 2009 at 12:00 pm
