''The Understanding'' is the second studio album by Norwegian

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

duo

Röyksopp Röyksopp (), a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø formed in 1998. The duo consists of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland. Berge and Brundtland were introduced to each other through a mutual friend in Tromsø, Norway. They enjoy ...

. It was released on 22 June 2005 by

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session ...

. ''The Understanding'' debuted at number 13 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, with 22,466 copies sold in its first week. The album was certified gold by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

(BPI) on 1 December 2006, and had sold 103,500 copies in the United Kingdom by March 2009.

In popular culture

Similarly to '' Melody A.M.'', songs from ''The Understanding'' were used widely in television adverts and video games. "Circuit Breaker" and " Only This Moment" were used in an episode of

Danmarks Radio DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...

's consumer programme, named Rabatten. "Follow My Ruin" was also included on the soundtrack to ''

FIFA 06 ''FIFA 06'', known as ''FIFA Soccer 06'' in North America, is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released in the United States on 4 October 2005 for the Play ...

''. "

What Else Is There? "What Else Is There?" is the third single from the Norwegian duo Röyksopp's second album '' The Understanding''. It features the vocals of Karin Dreijer from the Swedish electronica duo The Knife. The album was released in the UK with the help o ...

" was used in an O₂ television advertisement in the Czech Republic in 2007 and in Slovakia in 2008. It was also used in the films '' Cashback'' (2006) and '' Meet Bill'' (2007). A remixed version of "What Else Is There?" was featured on the 15 April 2007 episode of the HBO series ''

Entourage An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to: Arts and entertainment * L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...

''.

Track listing

Sample credits * "What Else Is There?" contains a sample from "Love Me, Love the Life I Lead" by

The Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in ...

and "Kill Me with Your Love" by Jericho. * "Dead to the World" contains a sample from "Who We Are" by Camel.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''The Understanding''. *

– performance, arrangement, mixing, production * Chelonis R. Jones – vocals *

Karin Dreijer Karin Elisabeth Dreijer (born 7 April 1975) is a Swedish singer-songwriter and record producer. Dreijer was one half of the electronic music duo the Knife, formed with their brother Olof Dreijer. Dreijer released their Fever Ray (album), debut ...

– vocals *

Olof Dreijer Olof Björn Dreijer (born 27 November 1981) is a Swedish DJ and record producer, best known as one half of the electronic music duo the Knife, formed with his sibling Karin Dreijer. Although the Knife very rarely performed live concerts, Olof ...

– vocal recording *

Kate Havnevik Kate Havnevik (born 27 October 1975) is a Norwegian film composer, songwriter and singer. Her debut album, the critically acclaimed electronica-infused ''Melankton'', was released in March 2006 on iTunes and April 2006 (on physical CD) in Norw ...

– additional vocals, creative input *

Tom Elmhirst Tom Elmhirst (born 8 June 1971) is a British mix engineer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Beck, David Bowie, Cage the Elephant, Lady Gaga, Residente, and Amy Winehouse, among many others. Elmhirst has received numerous accolades ...

– co-mixing * Kato Ådland – bass on "Triumphant" * Ib Kleiser – guitar * Sanghon Kim – artwork * Camille Vivier – photos

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Understanding, The 2005 albums Astralwerks albums Röyksopp albums Wall of Sound (record label) albums