Royksopp - 'Junior' (Wall Of Sound) Released 23/03/09

The release of Röyksopp's third album, 'Junior', couldn't be better timed. Firstly, Scandinavia is currently enjoying a golden age of music, producing unique artists who consistently make forward thinking works; acts the Norwegian duo are naturally assimilated with. On top of this, the joyous and wholly absorbing record is a perfect distraction from these recession hit times where doom and gloom tirelessly confronts us at every turn. Embracing the musical talent of their Scandinavian natives and coupling this with their uplifting and intriguing electronic music, Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge have created one the best records of 2009 so far.  

The bleeping, radiant electronic explosion of 'Happy Up Here' kicks things off buoyantly. A track that would sound perfectly at home on their 2001 debut 'Melody A.M', it's a misleading yet glorious start to 'Junior'. Featuring the stunning vocal talents of Swedish chart-topper, 'The Girl And The Robot' is much more indicative of the musical direction. Tech-tinged ripples of electronica reverberate off Robyn's lament about a partner who works too hard – true, the subject matter may sound trite, but it's a killer tune.

Indeed, the guest vocalists undoubtedly give the record extra depth and texture - no more is this more evident in the contributions of Karin Dreijer Andersson of The Knife and Fever Ray fame. After the whirling 'Vision One', the inimitable Karin injects some urgency into the record with the towering 'This Must Be It'; very much a continuant of her previous Röyksopp collaboration 'What Else Is There?' from 2005's 'The Understanding', it's simply breathtaking. Later, the edgy, paranoid 'Tricky Tricky' (a song Berge describes as encapsulating “coke-fuelled anxiety”) shows the mouth-watering dark underbelly of both Karin and Royksopp's character. Juxtaposing this, the gorgeous 'Miss It So Much', featuring Lykke Li, is life-affirmingly twee and insouciant – a sentiment echoed in the gorgeous, Anneli Drecker sung 'You Don't Have A Clue'.

Importantly, despite the sheer excellence of these 'guest' songs they do little to overshadow the instrumentals or Berge/Bruntland sung moments. Instead they compliment them perfectly. The atmospheric, orchestral beast that is 'Röyksopp Forever', for example, is nothing short of genius, while following the epic almost James Holden-esque 'True To Life', the jubilant sun-kissed closer 'It's What I Want' (“All that I want is keeping it easy”) is a moment of sheer aural ecstasy.

A triumph from start to finish, if their upcoming fourth album (and 'Junior' counterpart) 'Senior' is anywhere near as good as this, Röyksopp will unquestionably have two lofty entries in those obligatory end of year polls.