Robyn - Body Talk

Robyn - Body Talk

At the beginning of the year, Swedish pop star Robyn announced her new album Body Talk would be released over three parts. What she didn't mention at the time was that the first two would be EPs and the third would be a superset of all the better tracks from the first two. If she were an American pop star she'd probably be accused of a sleazy cash grabbing ploy. I don't know why she neglected to mention earlier that most of the songs on Body Talk parts 1 and 2 would also be on the third part, and I kind of want my money back for the first two. The whole is definitely better than the sum of it's parts. At this point, now that all three parts are out, the only one you need is the third part.

Robyn seems to have two modes. The first is very melodic dance pop, sort of like a more emotionally mature version of what Madonna was doing in the 80s. Her songs in this style tend to be about relationships and the longing for them. In 'Dancing On My Own', Robyn watches a man she loves with somebody else and wishes he would notice her. Other songs instruct a man how to soften the blow when he breaks up with his current girlfriend and tell a man that although she wants a close intimate friendship, if he falls in love with her she will hurt him. The second style Robyn uses has a heavier beat and more hip hop style, and lyrics about dancing in clubs and boasting about how tough she is. In one song which contains the lryics 'Even the C.I.A. knows better than to f*** with me', Snoop Dogg appears. Other songs of this style talk about dancing in clubs and partying.

Body Talk part one contained mostly songs of the more hip hop oriented style, and part two contained mostly songs of the more dance pop oriented style. The third release spreads them out more evenly, which gives it more variety and changes of pace. With more variety it is a far better listen from front to back. Althogh her style is similar to the style of the songs on mainstream airwaves, it's so much better written and produced you can't even make a real comparison. If you like the musical style of pop music, but think the artistic standards of American Idol style pop are too low, you should definitely hear Body Talk.

Technical skill: 6
Songwriting: 9
Overall: 9