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

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

duo

Röyksopp Röyksopp () a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø formed in 1998. The duo consists of childhood friends Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland who formed Röyksopp during the Bergen Wave. After experimenting with different Electronic Mu ...

. 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 m ...

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

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

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

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(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 "Only This Moment" is the first single from Norwegian duo Röyksopp's second album, ''The Understanding (Röyksopp album), The Understanding'' (2005). The track features Kate Havnevik on guest vocals and co-writing. Reception The single was rele ...

" 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 Pl ...

''. "

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 ''Meet Bill'' (formerly known as ''Bill'') is a 2007 American comedy film written and directed by Bernie Goldmann and Melisa Wallack, and stars Aaron Eckhart as the title character, with supporting performances by Logan Lerman, Jessica Alba, ...

'' (2007). A remixed version of "What Else Is There?" was featured on the 15 April 2007 episode of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

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 ...

''. "Triumphant" would sometimes be heard in the British series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...

''.

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 an American pop and R&B/soul vocal group. 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 1959 and ...

and "Kill Me with Your Love" by

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

. * "Dead to the World" contains a sample from "Who We Are" by

Camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

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. They released their debut solo album under ...

– 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, Olo ...

– 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 Norwa ...

– 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