Personally I always thought that Röyksopp’s earlier album “Junior” was going to be a hard album to follow with its catchy tracks and those wonderful bouncy tunes that I’d got used to listening to over the years from them.

I’d heard so many times that the latest album “Senior” was going to be a darker album compared to the earlier ones and boy it is! So I wasn’t sure how this album review was going to go on my first listen.

Right from the very start of the first track “…And the Forest Began to Sing” you just know that the album is going to be something much more downbeat and chilled out compared to the likes of “Melody A.M.” and “The Understanding”, even compared to the previous album “Junior” it’s just so different, well except for the track “Tricky Two” but even that has a darker overtone to it.

But before you all start thinking that I hate the album, far from it, after a few listens it has seriously grown on me and listening to it more has allowed to appreciate the finer things in the tracks such as the complex sounds and keyboard work that has gone into the album, leading me to writing this album review.

It’s almost as if you, the listener, has been taken on some strange musical journey through the world of sound. As “Junior” was that younger child having a sheer amount of fun, “Senior” is the older version with a wiser understanding of things that only Röyksopp could possibly explain to us, listen to the album a few times only builds on the ability that Röyksopp can bring us some darker versions of their music.

It’s hard to choose favourite tracks from the album and though I am quite partial to those brilliant sounding tracks from earlier albums such as “Röyksopp’s Night Out” and “Röyksopp Forvever”, but for me I would have to go with “The Fear” from this new album. This 7 minute wonder is just gorgeous to listen to with rolling synths and a beat that makes you feel like it’s your heartbeat, just an awesome track and one which I could play over and over again, in fact, I have

Overall I have to say that if you are expecting an album similar to Röyksopp’s previous work, you may be surprised, but it is a masterpiece, an album that has broken the Röyksopp mould and one I would have to say that any Röyksopp fan should have in their collection.

Yes it may take time to grow on you, but believe me, it’s all worth it in the end.

Ok, I know I’m posting my Musical Monday a bit late today, but here it is, lately I’ve been playing the new album Junior by Royksopp quite a lot, so this weeks selected track is the opening track from the album Happy Up Here.

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