FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
Part Sixty-Five: Robyn
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IN this A Buyer’s Guide…
I am eager to explore the essential albums from Robyn (Robin Miriam Carlsson). Just before getting to that, I want to drop in some biography from Wikipedia:
“Robin Miriam Carlsson (born 12 June 1979), known as Robyn is a Swedish singer, songwriter, record producer and DJ.[8] She arrived on the music scene with her 1995 debut album, Robyn Is Here, which produced two US Billboard Hot 100 top-10 singles: "Do You Know (What It Takes)" and "Show Me Love". Her second and third albums, My Truth (1999) and Don't Stop the Music (2002), were released in Sweden.
Robyn returned to international success with her fourth album, Robyn (2005), which brought a Grammy Award nomination. The album spawned the singles "Be Mine!" and the UK number one "With Every Heartbeat". Robyn released a trilogy of mini-albums in 2010, known as the Body Talk series. They received broad critical praise, three Grammy Award nominations, and produced three top-10 singles: "Dancing On My Own", "Hang with Me" and "Indestructible". Robyn followed this with two collaborative EPs: Do It Again (2014) with Röyksopp, and Love Is Free (2015) with La Bagatelle Magique. She released her eighth solo album Honey in 2018 to widespread acclaim”.
I have not heard whether Robyn is following up Honey anytime soon. There will be a lot of demand for a ninth studio album, as she is one of the most consistent and incredible artists. Since her 1995 debut, the Stockholm-born artist has released such an incredible array of albums. I am recommending the four essential, the underrated gem and her latest studio album. There is a caveat, in the sense that few of Robyn’s albums are available on vinyl. She also released two ‘mini-albums’ – Body Talk Pt. 1 and Body Talk Pt. 2 -, that I am including as albums. Robyn released Body Talk: a combination of the best tracks from the two later that year (all three arrived in 2010). I am making quite a few exceptions for this outing. For the next A Buyer’s Guide, I am going to include an artist where there is a book available about them – I could not find a Robyn-related book. Here are the essential albums…
FROM the wonderful Robyn.
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The Four Essential Albums
Robyn Is Here
Release Date: 13th October, 1995
Labels: Ricochet/Ariola/BMG
Producers: Anders Bagge/Christian Falk/Ghost/Max Martin/Denniz Pop/Harry Sommerdahl
Standout Tracks: You've Got That Somethin'/Just Another Girlfriend/Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect)
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=45736&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5OvepfQiCFMCzML6fTgrBW?si=WYGL8gzSRnWvefy-VqqpVg&dl_branch=1
Review:
“So front-loaded it could almost be a vinyl album with a hot side and a cool side, only since the singer is 17 call them perky and caring. Positioned at four and six, the Max Martin-aided "Show Me Love" and "Do You Know (What It Takes)" are key, but without Robyn and her boys' "Bumpy Ride," "You've Got That Somethin'," and "The Last Time" at one, three, and five you wouldn't listen twice. Then, a few spins in, you notice a hint of velvet in her timbre‑-more like suede, really‑-that suggests not sensuality but emotional depth. Which in turn makes the orchestrated popsongs about romantic responsibility sound thoughtful rather than mawkish. Too bad she'll turn 21 like every other teen idol” – MSN Music (Expert Witness)
Choice Cut: Do You Know (What It Takes)
My Truth
Release Date: 17th May, 1999
Label: BMG Sweden
Producers: Christian Falk/Internal Dread/Cherno Jah/K-Fam/Lindström & Ekhé/Billy Mann/Masters at Work/Robyn/Thomas Rusiak
Standout Tracks: Play/My Only Reason/My Truth
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/164910
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3zDtIn6e06q49DbBPI6JUr?si=P3yUN_NORuKY4pvTkmNn_w&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Despite a string of big hits and platinum sales for her debut, Robyn's sophomore effort was never even released in America. Her U.S. record company feared that the record would fail to connect with pop radio, and Robyn, who co-wrote every track, refused to compromise her artistic vision. In the resultant struggle the album was lost, although it was another hit in her native Sweden. Listening to the record, you can understand why the record company was nervous. At the same time, though, it's hardly a radical departure from Robyn Is Here. Indeed, in many ways it's a step forward. While that album was bogged down in filler and samey production, this album is much more organic and mature. There are no truly weak moments. There is a greater focus on the lyrics, which are generally intelligent and introspective. This is not to say that Robyn transformed herself into Lisa Loeb; lead single "Play" is as playful a song as she's ever recorded. Other highlights include the funky "Main Thing" and the distinctive, minimal "Electric." The main problem with the album is that the hooks just aren't as instant or irresistible as those of "Show Me Love" and "Do You Know?" It takes several listens for the songs to really sink in, which could have spelled death among the fast, disposable sounds of pop radio in 1999. Also, the album has a uniformity of sound that can make some songs drift in and out without really making any impression. Record executives may also have been nervous about songs such as "Giving You Back" and "88 Days," which deal with Robyn's guilt over a youthful abortion. Not a commercial blockbuster then, nor a perfect listen, but this album does mark an important step forward for Robyn as an artist, and should be of interest to any fans of her later work” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Play
Robyn
Release Date: 29th April, 2005
Label: Konichiwa
Producers: Klas Åhlund/Patrik Berger/Kleerup/The Knife/Johan Liljedah/lTeddybears/Fabian ‘Phat Fabe’ Torsson
Standout Tracks: Be Mine!/Who's That Girl/Crash and Burn Girl
Buy (pre-order): https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/robyn/robyn-rsd
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5pnQHnJrmEo8WMgkBFJ1KG?si=esvFt3i4Q46nPQZhYvoERA&dl_branch=1
Review:
“If there were any justice, the divas who’ve been trading off the No. 1 slot — Mariah, Madonna, and newcomer Leona Lewis — would also be slugging it out with a platinum-blond dark horse from Scandinavia. Enter Sweden’s Robyn, who arrives Stateside with Robyn, an album that’s a veritable parade of Songs of the Summer.
After landing a few mediocre teen-pop hits in the ’90s (namely ”Show Me Love”), she’s forsaken her white-soul dullness for hooky dance-pop greatness with help from electro-favoring fellow Swedes like the Teddybears and the Knife. From the girly hip-hop of ”Konichiwa Bitches” to the Eurodisco defiance of ”With Every Heartbeat,” she’s developed a real backbone to go with that asymmetrical ‘do. Not since Pink’s M!ssundaztood has an easily dismissed young thrush made so unexpected a leap to career artist.
That comparison starts with Robyn’s first single, ”Handle Me” — a less nasty but even hookier version of Pink’s lounge-lizard-repelling ”U + Ur Hand.” But she hardly sticks to playing a tough cookie: The next song, ”Bum Like You,” offers an amusing, knowing lesson in How to Fall for a Jerk 101. Meanwhile, in the pensive, timbales-‘n’-synths-driven ”Who’s That Girl,” Robyn decries her guy’s impossible standards. ”Good girls are pretty, like, all the time,” she sings. ”I’m just pretty some of the time.” Her album, however? Fantastic all of the time. A” – Entertainment Weekly
Choice Cut: Handle Me
Body Talk
Release Date: 22nd November, 2010
Label: Konichiwa
Producers: Jocke Åhlund/Klas Åhlund/Patrik Berger/Diplo/Douster/Kleerup/Max Martin/Niggaracci/Röyksopp/Savage Skulls/Shellback
Standout Tracks: Indestructible/Hang with Me/Call Your Girlfriend
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=291012&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0le9TO3kU69m6iWHTjNs9Y?si=SZF-hIj8RqeS_F47TyhA6Q&dl_branch=1
Review:
“What sets Robyn apart from her contemporaries is the three-dimensional complexity of her character, and all sides are on display here. There's plenty of don't-fuck-with-me attitude in the icy electro-throb of "Don't Fucking Tell Me What to Do", which introduces a shit-talking heroine who may be flawed but won't be anyone's pawn. And with production by Diplo, the mock-outrageous Jamaica homage "Dancehall Queen" proves she's not kidding. But she's also sensitive enough that, during one of Body Talk's most inspired moments-- the soaringly tuneful electro-pop ballad "Call Your Girlfriend"-- she tells her boyfriend exactly how to break it off with the other woman to inflict the least emotional damage.
However, the highlight from this Year of Robyn remains the gorgeous "Dancing on My Own". What's especially remarkable is that there was any room for improvement: The track appears here as an amped-up "radio remix" with bonus synths giving the lovelorn chorus an extra wallop. But then again, Robyn is a master of re-invention: "Indestructible" and "Hang With Me" were first released as emotive acoustic ballads, and later given revved-up Eurodisco overhauls that ramped up the intensity without sacrificing an ounce of their bittersweet charm. Those are the versions included here, and both lend further ammunition to Body Talk's already military-grade stockpile.
Robyn's willingness to experiment with album conventions may feel like an ingenious gimmick, but there's no artifice to the desire for human connection that underlies her vocal quiver and party-starting kickdrums. She communicates heartbreak so convincingly that some of her most devoted fans actually wonder online about her presumed loneliness. She also attacks the charts from the fringes. She explores the fringes from the charts. She should be universal. So why isn't she? With Body Talk, Robyn ups the ante for pop stars across the radio dial and raises her own chances of appearing on yours. And for all her three-album talk, she never forgets that cardinal rule of showmanship: Always leave them wanting more” – Pitchfork
Choice Cut: Dancing on My Own
The Underrated Gem
Body Talk Pt. 2
Release Date: 6th September, 2010
Label: Konichiwa
Producers: Klas Åhlund/Diplo/Kleerup/Niggaracci/Savage Skulls
Standout Tracks: In My Eyes/Love Kills/We Dance to the Beat
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=273176&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/77jvaKjAJW0O7c3QLSq1ne?si=fiHKCfE6TgeYwSt7iswRcg&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Almost every track on Robyn’s Body Talk Pt. 1 sounded like a smash single; in fact, most of them were released promotionally in one form or another. On the contrary, the second installment in the trilogy feels like it’s filled with album tracks—albeit album tracks from a pretty fucking fantastic album. “We Dance to the Beat” is sick, a sister song to the even more irreverent “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What to Do,” and “Love Kills” would be a highlight even on Pt. 1. But as a standalone album, Body Talk Pt. 2 is a minor letdown following the near-perfection of its predecessor.
Producer Klas Åhlund once again does most of the heavy lifting here, while Diplo handles “Criminal Intent,” which nearly curdles due to its cheesiness but is saved by a vocal performance that is just the right ratio of sass and cute. In a just world, the Snoop Dogg collaboration “U Should Know Better” would out-spin Katy Perry and Doggy Dogg’s “California Gurls” on U.S. radio, but it’s tempting to retract that endorsement solely for the repeated paraphrasing of the Maya Angelou quote “When you know better, you do better.” Kleerup’s contribution, “In My Eyes,” is good, but it pales in comparison to Pt. 1‘s “Dancing on My Own,” which, though produced by Patrik Berger, was a far better successor to Kleerup’s own “With Every Heartbeat.” There’s a danger that by the time the final installment of Body Talk drops, the formula is going to sound a little stale. If the series is a three-course meal (to continue the metaphor from my review of Pt. 1), none of them should taste like leftovers.
Luckily, I’m a music critic, not a food critic, and Pt. 2 is further evidence that Robyn is still one of the most consistently innovative major-label pop artists working today. One novel aspect of the Body Talk project (in addition to its staggered release, of course) is the introduction of a track from the following chapter in the series by way of an acoustic version of the song. Here, “Hang with Me”—presented with just piano, strings, and vocals on Pt. 1—is given the full-on disco-pop treatment, and the orchestral rendition of “Indestructible” that closes Pt. 2 will presumably be reprised in similar fashion. If the acoustic version of the song is any indication, the forthcoming “four to the floor” mix is likely to match or even surpass both “With Every Heartbeat” and “Dancing on My Own” for sheer emo power in Robyn’s increasingly impressive canon” – SLANT
Choice Cut: Hang with Me
The Latest Album
Honey
Release Date: 26th October, 2018
Labels: Konichiwa/Island/Interscope
Producers: Joseph Mount/Klas Åhlund/Mr. Tophat/Adam Bainbridge/Robyn
Standout Tracks: Missing U/Between the Lines/Ever Again
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=1443747&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0CQ68SLY0B5e6L1rn8jfkc?si=0ImDhUQHQM6Dt1QCeUhGnA&dl_branch=1
Review:`
“Honey’s centrepiece may be Because It’s in the Music, a track that feels like the inverse image of Dancing on My Own, in which music offers no sense of escape or release: “I’m right back in that moment and it makes me want to cry,” she sings. The melody has the potential to feel anthemic, but it doesn’t, because the sound is weirdly fractured. The signifiers of euphoria – disco strings, tingle-inducing electronic shimmers, a lovely synth motif not a million miles removed from Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Forbidden Colours – never quite connect with each other: they’re scattered throughout the track and feel oddly lonely.
This track is also, pleasingly, the negative image of Scott’s cover of Dancing on My Own, a single that implied a song’s real gravitas and impact can only truly be revealed if you perform it in traditional, “authentic” singer-songwriter style. But, like the rest of Honey, Because It’s in the Music is a track on which the gravitas and impact comes as much from the way it manipulates the sonic palette of modern pop as the lyrics or melody. Whether the album ends up exerting the kind of influence over the Top 40 that her earlier releases did seems questionable – it feels almost too opaque and inward-looking for mass appeal. As evidence of a unique artist pursuing a personal vision in a world filled with the commonplace, however, Honey is perfect” – The Guardian
Choice Cut: Honey