# The Understanding (Röyksopp album)

Professional ratings :
| Aggregate scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 68/100 |
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Entertainment Weekly | B |
| The Guardian | |
| The Irish Times | |
| NME | 8/10 |
| Pitchfork | 8.1/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | B+ |
| The Village Voice | C+ |
The Understanding is the second studio album by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp. It was released on 22 June 2005 by Wall of Sound. The Understanding debuted at number 13 on the UK Albums Chart, with 22,466 copies sold in its first week. The album was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (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's consumer programme, named Rabatten. "Follow My Ruin" was also included on the soundtrack to FIFA 06. "What Else Is There?" was used in an O$_2$ 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. Triumphant would sometimes be heard in the British series of The X Factor.

## Track listing

All tracks are written by Röyksopp, except where noted
Sample credits
* "What Else Is There?" contains a sample from "Love Me, Love the Life I Lead" by The Drifters 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.
* Röyksopp – performance, arrangement, mixing, production
* Chelonis R. Jones – vocals (track 3 and "Go Away")
* Karin Dreijer – vocals (track 7)
* Olof Dreijer – vocal recording (track 7)
* Kate Havnevik – additional vocals, creative input (tracks 2, 8)
* Tom Elmhirst – co-mixing (track 2)
* Kato Ådland – bass on "Triumphant"
* Ib Kleiser – guitar (track 2)
* Sanghon Kim – artwork
* Camille Vivier – photos

## Charts

| Chart (2005–07) | Peak position |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 98 |
| Australian Dance Albums (ARIA) | 11 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) | 60 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) | 23 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) | 33 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten) | 36 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 48 |
| European Albums (Billboard) | 31 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) | 39 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 45 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 41 |
| Greek Albums (IFPI) | 23 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA) | 16 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) | 21 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 83 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) | 1 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) | 7 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 18 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 13 |
| UK Dance Albums (OCC) | 1 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC) | 12 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) | 22 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) | 32 |
| US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) | 2 |

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Gold | 103,500 |

## Release history

| Region | Date | Label |
| Japan | 22 June 2005 | EMI |
| Germany | 24 June 2005 | Parlophone |
| Italy | 24 June 2005 | EMI |
| France | 28 June 2005 | Labels |
| Norway | 29 June 2005 | Virgin |
| United Kingdom | 4 July 2005 | Wall of Sound |
| United States | 12 July 2005 | Astralwerks |
| Australia | 15 July 2005 | EMI |