Senior is the fourth studio album by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp. It was released on 8 September 2010 by Wall of Sound. Consisting of instrumental tracks only, the album is described as more introspective and withdrawn than its predecessor, Junior (2009). The final track on the CD version, "A Long, Long Way", also includes the hidden track "The Final Day", which is available as a separate track on the iTunes Store.[10]

Senior
Studio album by
Released8 September 2010 (2010-09-08)
Genre
Length54:14
LabelWall of Sound
ProducerRöyksopp
Röyksopp chronology
Junior
(2009)
Senior
(2010)
Late Night Tales: Röyksopp
(2013)
Singles from Senior
  1. "The Drug"
    Released: 8 August 2010
  2. "Forsaken Cowboy"
    Released: 25 February 2011
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.6/10[1]
Metacritic61/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Filter70%[4]
musicOMH[5]
Now3/5[6]
Pitchfork6.0/10[7]
PopMatters4/10[8]
Under the Radar[9]

The album debuted at number 33 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 3,864 copies.[11] Senior spawned two singles: "The Drug" and "Forsaken Cowboy". In December 2012, the album was awarded a silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), indicating sales in excess of 20,000 copies throughout Europe.[12]

Background

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Senior is intended to be an introspective, withdrawn, atmospheric counterpart to the "bubbly dance grooves" of Junior (2009),[13][14] with Röyksopp stating it has a more "autumn mood" to it, in contrast to Junior's "spring feel".[15] In an interview with KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, Svein Berge dubbed Senior "the senile sibling of Junior who lives in the attic".[16] Berge cited "The Alcoholic" as a standout track, explaining that they had "this romantic, nostalgic idea based on this hobo who hitchhikes on trains and travels from place to place".[15]

Promotion

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To promote Senior, Röyksopp released a 10-minute film titled Röyksopp's Adventures in Barbieland on 6 August 2010, containing six tracks from the album. Directed by Andreas Nilsson, the film shows Röyksopp living as two elderly musicians in a house full of Barbie dolls.[17]

"The Drug" was released as the album's lead single on 8 August 2010.[18] The music video for the song, directed by Norwegian film duo That Go (Noel Paul and Stefan Moore), premiered on 3 September 2010.[19] The video features three girls (Amanda Bauer, Jessie Vanatta and Jenna Lammert)[20] in airbrushed T-shirts walking through an apocalyptic landscape in Detroit, Michigan.[19][21] An extended, 10-minute cut of the video, redubbed "Senior Living", that uses six tracks from the album was released on 18 November 2010.[21] The album's second single, "Forsaken Cowboy", was released on 25 February 2011.[22]

On 4 November 2010, Röyksopp partnered with Genero.tv to launch a competition allowing fans to create videos for each one of the tracks from Senior.[23][24] The winners were announced on 27 January 2011, with a video for "The Alcoholic" being chosen as the overall winner.[25]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland

No.TitleLength
1."....And the Forest Began to Sing"1:50
2."Tricky Two"7:51
3."The Alcoholic"5:10
4."Senior Living"5:09
5."The Drug"5:58
6."Forsaken Cowboy"5:28
7."The Fear"7:01
8."Coming Home"5:05
9."A Long, Long Way"4:00
10."The Final Day" (hidden track)6:42

Personnel

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Credits adapted from the liner notes of Senior.[26]

  • Röyksopp – performance, recording, production, instruments (all tracks); bass (track 7)
  • Ole Vegard Skauge – bass (track 1)
  • Kato Ådland – guitar (track 3); bass (track 7)
  • Davide Rossi – string arrangements, strings (track 4)
  • Lindy-Fay Hella – vocals (track 6)
  • Bjørn Sæther – drums (track 7)
  • Mike Marsh – mastering

Charts

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Chart (2010) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] 80
Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)[28] 12
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29] 21
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[30] 31
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[31] 30
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 41
European Albums (Billboard)[33] 28
French Albums (SNEP)[34] 128
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[35] 52
Greek International Albums (IFPI)[36] 33
Irish Albums (IRMA)[37] 58
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA)[38] 8
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[39] 226
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[40] 1
Scottish Albums (OCC)[41] 49
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[42] 17
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[43] 28
UK Albums (OCC)[44] 33
UK Dance Albums (OCC)[45] 4
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[46] 3
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[47] 46
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[48] 18

Release history

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Region Date Label Ref.
Japan 8 September 2010 EMI [49]
Australia 10 September 2010 [50]
Germany PIAS [51]
France 13 September 2010 [52]
Norway Virgin [53]
United Kingdom Wall of Sound [54]
United States 22 November 2010 MB3 [55]

References

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  1. ^ "Senior by Röyksopp reviews | Any Decent Music". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Reviews for Senior by Röyksopp". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  3. ^ Bush, John. "Senior – Röyksopp". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  4. ^ Vallejos, Tamara (22 December 2010). "Röyksopp – Senior". Filter. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  5. ^ Raymond, Max (12 September 2010). "Röyksopp – Senior". musicOMH. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  6. ^ Bimm, Jordan (25 November 2010). "Röyksopp – Senior". Now. Vol. 30, no. 13. ISSN 0712-1326. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  7. ^ Love, Joshua (13 September 2010). "Röyksopp: Senior". Pitchfork. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  8. ^ Copplestone, Joe (27 October 2010). "Röyksopp: Senior". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  9. ^ Studarus, Laura (19 October 2010). "Röyksopp: Senior (Wall of Sound)". Under the Radar. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  10. ^ "Senior by Röyksopp". iTunes Store (UK). Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Burke and The Script are top of charts". Music Week. 20 September 2010. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  12. ^ "13/12/12: More Independent Artists Take European Gold, Silver and Platinum Awards Than Ever Before". Independent Music Companies Association. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  13. ^ Johnson, Andy (23 February 2009). "TLOBF Interview: Röyksopp". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  14. ^ Seaman, Duncan (3 November 2009). "INTERVIEW: Royksopp". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  15. ^ a b Jones, Damian (20 March 2009). "Röyksopp return with third album". Newsbeat. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
  16. ^ Bentley, Jason (18 November 2009). "Royksopp Live at KCRW on Morning Becomes Eclectic 11.18.09". KCRW. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  17. ^ "Röyksopp's Adventures in Barbieland". Royksopp.com. 9 August 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  18. ^ "The Drug – Single by Röyksopp". iTunes Store (UK). Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  19. ^ a b Breihan, Tom (3 September 2010). "Video: Röyksopp: "The Drug"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  20. ^ "Royksopp – The Drug". 18 August 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2012 – via Vimeo.
  21. ^ a b Dombal, Ryan (18 November 2010). "Röyksopp Share Short Film, Tour Dates". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  22. ^ "Forsaken Cowboy – Single by Röyksopp". iTunes Store (UK). Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  23. ^ "Make the videos for 'Senior'!". Royksopp.com. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  24. ^ Murray, Robin (5 November 2010). "Royksopp Launch New Video Competition". Clash. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  25. ^ "Royksopp Winners". Genero.tv. 27 January 2011. Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  26. ^ Senior (liner notes). Röyksopp. Wall of Sound. 2010. WOS080CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  27. ^ "ARIA Top 100 Albums – Week Commencing 20th September 2010" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association (1073): 6. 20 September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2012 – via Pandora Archive.
  28. ^ "ARIA Dance – Week Commencing 20th September 2010" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association (1073): 17. 20 September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2014 – via Pandora Archive.
  29. ^ "Ultratop.be – Röyksopp – Senior" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  30. ^ "Ultratop.be – Röyksopp – Senior" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  31. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Röyksopp – Senior". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  32. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Röyksopp – Senior" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  33. ^ "European Albums – Week of October 02, 2010". Billboard. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  34. ^ "Lescharts.com – Röyksopp – Senior". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  35. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Röyksopp – Senior" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  36. ^ "Röyksopp – Senior". greekcharts.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  37. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 37, 2010". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  38. ^ "GFK Chart-Track – Independent Albums: Week 37, 2010". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  39. ^ シニア | ロイクソップ [Senior | Röyksopp] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  40. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Röyksopp – Senior". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  41. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  42. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Röyksopp – Senior". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  43. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Röyksopp – Senior". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  44. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  45. ^ "Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  46. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  47. ^ "Royksopp Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  48. ^ "Royksopp Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  49. ^ "Senior : Royksopp". HMV Japan. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  50. ^ "Senior by Royksopp". Sanity. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  51. ^ "Senior: Royksopp" (in German). Amazon (Germany). Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  52. ^ "Senior – Röyksopp" (in French). Fnac. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  53. ^ "Senior – Röyksopp" (in Norwegian). CDON.no. Archived from the original (select "Fakta" tab) on 26 September 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  54. ^ "Releases / Senior". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  55. ^ "Senior: Royksopp". Amazon (US). Retrieved 19 January 2018.