Melody A.M. Explained

Melody A.M.
Type:studio
Artist:Röyksopp
Cover:Royksopp melody am.png
Alt:A photograph of an orange sky with clouds. Some trees are on the bottom of the picture and the album name and the name of the duo are displayed above.
Genre:
Length:45:58
Label:Wall of Sound
Producer:Röyksopp
Next Title:The Understanding
Next Year:2005

Melody A.M. is the debut studio album by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp, released on 13 September 2001 by Wall of Sound. The album reached number one in the Norwegian Albums chart. In the UK, it reached number nine in the country's Album chart, and topped both the Dance Albums and the Independent Albums charts. As of 2005, the album had sold 750,000 copies worldwide, with 454,271 sold in the United Kingdom alone.[1]

Composition

Jon Setzen of the San Francisco Chronicle describes the album as "an across-the-board mix of bleepy synths, crunch beats and ambient, dreamy vocals, with even a bit disco mixed in at times". With the album, "Röyksopp balances the haunted atmospheres of Boards of Canada with the more traditional "songwriting" sensibility of downbeat specialists like Groove Armada or Koop", according to John Bush of AllMusic. Andy Gill of The Independent said that Melody A.M. exemplifies the band's intention to combine "Satie-esque harmonies and melodies like those of Francis Lai with the best aspects of three decades of electronic dance music: that Seventies analogue warmth, those fat Eighties beats and that meticulous Nineties programming."[2] Nick DeCicco of Daily Republic also compared the record to the works of Air, Massive Attack, Tricky, Portishead and Moby.[3] The album features vocals by Anneli Drecker and Erlend Øye.[4]

The first track "So Easy", described as "eerie", samples the refrain from Bobby Vinton's "Blue on Blue", said to be "recorded by some long-forgotten vocal chorus" and has "a chunky bassline" underneath. The second track "Eple", has "a high-pitched sonic tickle that falls in and out of pitch", and "is pushed through with acoustic guitar and sluggish drums" The "slow R&B" track "Sparks", said to be a "toned-down" Portishead", has "Drecker's vocals drift and hang over the lush bass lines and airy guitar riffs." The "gentle drum and bass" track "In Space" has "rippling harps over sighing, sampled strings" "Poor Leno" is a house song where Øye sings "a lullaby hook over a rich, subtly mutating" groove.

"A Higher Place" is a downtempo track with "phosphorescent synth chords and a stinging guitar loop". The next track "Royksopp's Night Out" is described as "tense, cinematic funk", where the band "allow themselves to break into a free-flowing and slightly less restrained darkness." "Remind Me" is a club track influenced by acid house and explores easy listening music with "playground keyboard refrains and 60s vocal melody". It also has "squiggly bass lines, melancholic synth effects, and dreamy male vocals."[5] The next track "She's So", a track with "mournful saxophone and arcing synths to recall the dated tones of Tangerine Dream",[6] "places the swooning moogs and strings of Air" with an "otherworldliness" texture "reminiscent of Vangelis' soundtrack to Blade Runner."[7] The album closes with "40 Years Back/Come", a track with an "'80s sense of artificial ethereality" and "spindly, etiolated synth lines around rasping, squelchy beats before closing with warm fretless bass."

Critical reception

Melody A.M. was met with universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 81, based on 21 reviews.

Andy Battaglia of The A.V. Club called the album "a highly imaginative entry into the saturated realm of downtempo chill-out music."[8] Writing for Launch, Ken Micallef wrote that "Röyksopp spins ambient trip hop into bedazzled and beautiful winter Muzak." Ethan Brown remarked that the album "will at least remind some of its eccentric possibilities. Like Björk's Vespertine or bedroom auteurs like Luke Vibert, Melody A.M. wires us into a highly personal, almost cocoonlike sonic sensibility."[9] The album "settles into a stream of pastoral, boutique techno that’s both soothing and derivative", according to David Browne of Entertainment Weekly.

Abebe Nitsuh of Pitchfork considered Melody A.M. to be "the most solid, confident, and generally pleasurable downtempo full-length you'll be hearing for a while. Whether that means it's a must-buy, more well-meaning nondescript bubbling, or end-of-the-world car-commercial music has to be left to you." However, he said that the worst moments of the album is when the duo "go generically downtempo and then miss the mark". DeCicco found the album unoriginal, continuing that "there isn’t much here that wasn’t done better and more interestingly at the height of downtempo’s popularity than it was by Röyksopp’s contemporaries."

On 21 November 2007, the album was included on The Guardians series of the 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die.[10] It is also listed in a similar selection, called 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, in a series of books by Quintessence Editions.[11] On 24 November 2009, Melody A.M. was named the best Norwegian album of the 2000s decade by the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang.[12]

Track listing

Sample credits

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Melody A.M.[13]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2001–2003)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Australian Alternative Albums (ARIA)[14] 21
Belgian Alternative Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 26
European Albums (Music & Media)[16] 36
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[17] 211
UK Dance Albums (OCC)[18] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2002)! scope="col"
Position
UK Albums (OCC)[19] 91
Chart (2003)! scope="col"
Position
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 74

Release history

Region! scope="col"
DateEditionLabel
Germany13 September 2001StandardParlophone[21]
Italy14 September 2001EMI[22]
United Kingdom8 October 2001Wall of Sound[23]
France9 October 2001Labels[24]
Australia4 March 2002EMI[25]
Japan5 June 2002[26]
United Kingdom12 August 2002ReissueWall of Sound[27]
United States15 October 2002Astralwerks[28] [29]
Japan18 June 2003SpecialEMI[30]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jones . Alan . London events swing sales on UK charts . . 11 July 2005 . 12 February 2014 . https://archive.today/20130830192514/http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/london-events-swing-sales-on-uk-charts/028286 . 30 August 2013.
  2. Web site: Gill . Andy . Pop: This Week's Album Releases: [Foreign Edition] ]. . 23 July 2022 . 12 October 2001. .
  3. Web site: DeCicco . Nick . Our Music Year No. 287: Röyksopp, 'Melody A.M.' . . 14 October 2013 . 20 July 2022 . 20 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220720214254/https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/solano-news/solano-county-entertainment/our-music-year-no-287-royksopp-melody-a-m/ . live.
  4. Web site: Levenfeld . Ari . PopMatters review . https://web.archive.org/web/20030107100613/https://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/r/royksopp-melody.shtml . . 22 July 2022 . January 7, 2003 . 7 January 2003.
  5. Billboard review . . July 22, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20021021205202/https://www.billboard.com/billboard/reviews/review_displayprint.jsp?vnu_content_id=1739003 . October 21, 2002 . October 19, 2002.
  6. Web site: Micallef . Ken . Launch review . . . July 22, 2022 . November 18, 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20021118023853/http://launch.yahoo.com/read/album.asp?contentID=210939 . October 10, 2002.
  7. Web site: James . Martin . Playlouder review . October 16, 2001. . July 22, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20011122033411/http://www.playlouder.com/review/402royksopp.html . November 22, 2001.
  8. Web site: Battaglia . Andy . Röyksopp: Melody A.M. . . 22 November 2002 . 19 January 2018 . 20 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180120065736/https://music.avclub.com/royksopp-melody-a-m-1798198061 . live.
  9. Web site: Brown . Ethan . Vulture review . . 22 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20021021113819/http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/music/pop/reviews/n_7794/ . October 21, 2002 . October 14, 2002.
  10. Web site: 1000 albums to hear before you die . The Guardian . 21 November 2007 . 12 February 2014 . 23 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140223012711/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/nov/21/1000tohearbeforeyoudie4 . live.
  11. Book: Dimery, Robert . 2005 . 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . Quintessence Editions . New York . 750 . 0-7893-1371-5.
  12. Web site: Talseth . Thomas . Röyksopp åpnet dører med debuten . Röyksopp opened doors with debut . . no . 24 November 2009 . 29 January 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140822200230/http://www.vg.no/rampelys/musikk/royksopp-aapnet-doerer-med-debuten/a/588237/ . 22 August 2014.
  13. Melody A.M. . liner notes . . . 2001 . WALLCD027.
  14. ARIA Alternative – Week Commencing 11th March 2002 . . 628 . 12 . 11 March 2002 . 12 February 2014 . . dead . https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20080222222433/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20020314-0000/www.aria.com.au/Issue628.pdf . 23 February 2008.
  15. Web site: Röyksopp – Melody A.M. . nl . . 30 July 2011 . 7 November 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161107011349/http://www.ultratop.be/nl/album/2c12/Roeyksopp-Melody-A.M. . live.
  16. European Top 100 Albums . . 21 . 8 . 15 February 2003 . 12 . 29800226 . World Radio History . 4 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220104062221/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Music-Media-IDX/IDX/00s/03/MM-2003-02-15-OCR-Page-0012.pdf . live.
  17. Web site: ロイクソップのアルバム売り上げランキング . Röyksopp album sales ranking . ja . . 28 February 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131024223857/http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/296672/ranking/cd_album/ . 24 October 2013.
  18. Dance Albums . Music Week . 31 August 2002 . 18 . 0265-1548 . World Radio History . 22 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220722044558/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Music-Week-IDX/IDX/2002/Music-Week-2002-08-31-IDX-18.pdf . live.
  19. Web site: End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2002 . Official Charts Company . 29 January 2016 . 16 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160216001000/http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-artist-albums-chart/20020106/37502/ . live.
  20. Web site: End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2003 . Official Charts Company . 29 January 2016 . 4 January 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160104231348/http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-artist-albums-chart/20030105/37502/ . live.
  21. Web site: Melody A.M.: Royksopp . . de . Germany . 18 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305135252/http://www.amazon.de/Melody-M-R%C3%B6yksopp/dp/B00005MOQX . 5 March 2016.
  22. Web site: Röyksopp – Melody A.M. . IBS.it . it . 18 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180118023544/https://www.ibs.it/melody-am-cd-royksopp/e/0724385092022 . 18 January 2018.
  23. New Releases – For Week Starting October 8, 2001: Albums . Music Week . 6 October 2001 . 30 . 0265-1548 . World Radio History . 22 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220722044558/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Music-Week-IDX/IDX/2001/Music-Week-2001-10-06-IDX-30.pdf . live.
  24. Web site: Melody A M – Röyksopp . fr . . 20 July 2022 . 22 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220722044605/https://www.fnac.com/a1238454/Royksopp-Melody-A-M-CD-album . live.
  25. Web site: Melody A.M – Royksopp . . 12 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121108215342/http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/music/dance/melody-a-m/188746 . 8 November 2012.
  26. Web site: Melody A.M. : Royksopp . . 12 February 2014 . 24 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924054149/http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist_Royksopp_000000000182282/item_Melody-A-M_532378 . live.
  27. Web site: Releases / Melody AM . . 12 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140225221438/http://www.wallofsound.net/releasedetails.php?id=24 . 25 February 2014.
  28. Web site: Melody A.M. – Röyksopp . AllMusic . 12 February 2014 . 22 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220722044606/https://www.allmusic.com/search/albums/melody+am . live.
  29. Web site: Melody A.M. [US Bonus Disc] – Röyksopp ]. AllMusic . 12 February 2014 . 29 January 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160129180430/http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/melody-am-us-bonus-disc-mr0001253396 . live.
  30. Web site: Melody A.m. – Special Edition . CDJapan . 29 January 2016 . 14 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160214115044/http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/TOCP-66195 . live.

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