Senior

Röyksopp
Senior
Rating: Meh

I'm always a little circumspect when an artist releases a new cd so soon after the release of their last one. The cynic in me usually perceives the new material as being less good, because otherwise it should have been included on the initial album. I look at these strange patterns in several ways; as either a) the artist quickly trying to ride the coattails of a successful album in order to provide a stop gap before the proper follow up; b) the material is thematically and sonically different from the preceding work and they want to showcase it as such; or c) there was just too much material to digest for one release. This year we have already seen two releases from Autechre, which followed the pattern set out under b), and Robyn, who seems to be following c), although I am beginning to think she is trying to stretch out inferior material over 3 albums when she could have edited them down to one classic album.

And now we come to Röyksopp, who landed in my top albums of last year with Junior, and who now have released the "companion piece," Senior. Based on what I have heard, the only polite reason would be to put it under a), because I really don't think there is anything laudatory about this release, other than it gives us Röyksopp on auto-pilot. Senior is just bland, with no real new ideas or approaches.

I knew we were in trouble when the first single was leaked by Röyksopp on their Facebook page. "The Drug" purported to be an addictive instrumental in the vein of their first recordings.



Instead it is a meandering sequence of drones that eventually snakes its way into a melody and beat, but is just not memorable enough to insinuate itself into the listener's brain.

Röyksopp even pull out a track from their last cd, "Tricky, Tricky," which had the sublime assistance of Karin Dreijer-Andersson of Fever Ray and The Knife on vocals, and instead of casting it in a completely different light, merely remove the vocals and add a couple of new synth lines to the proceedings.

Most of the tracks just seem to flow into one another without making any thematic sense or conscious attempt to involve the listener. This seems almost to be a hard drive clearance on the order of Aphex Twin's Drukqs. No thought was given to pacing, flow, or sensibility. It is a mess. But even so, there are glimmers within that show Röyksopp could have made a nice counterpoint to the melodic, hook-ladened Junior.

"The Fear" is 7 minutes of prime Röyksopp, building from a bank of synth strings into something ominous and gorgeous.



"Senior Living" is a beautiful, thoughtful elegy; cascading along with almost Hawaiian-like guitars.



"Forsaken Cowboy" is delicate and loose, marrying gorgeous old-time guitar strums with proto-60s spaceage bachelor pad keyboards. It definitely shows their wonderful whimsical side.



But too often we are saddled with songs that don't go anywhere and then drift and fade away into nothing, as with the lead track "And The Forest Began To Sing," and the final track, "A Long, Long Way," which plays like Brian Eno Ambient 101.



I hope this is merely a stop-gap between the release of Junior and the next cd, because this truly stopped the good feelings I had for that cd dead in their tracks. To come from one of their best cds ever to this middling attempt is truly disappointing.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not good; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.