Album Review: Robyn Body Talk Pt. 2
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This year kind of = Robyn. The exceedingly lovable Swedish pop princess has so far put her money where her body talk is (heh), releasing 2 of the 3 promised Body Talk albums for the year 2010, including the winner-by-a-lot Song of the Year, “Dancing On My Own.” She’s also managed to follow-up her groundbreaking rebirth on 2006′s self-titled Robyn with not 1, but 2 incredibly solid, album length EPs. The whole industry knows not to f*ck with Robyn.
While Body Talk Pt. 1 remains the stronger of the two on a track by track count, Pt. 2 makes up for that in overall flow; rising and falling as a more cohesive album – starting out with the slow build of the mid-tempo “In My Eyes,” and coming full circle with the beautifully orchestrated “Indestructible.”
At its center, Pt. 2 rumbles steadily with pulsing dance floor bangers, “Love Kills”, “We Dance to the Beat,” and “Criminal Intent,” slinging lyrics like, “We dance to the beat of the continents shifting under our feet/We dance to the beat of a new, better, faster breed/We dance to the beat of radioactivity blocking the exits/We dance to the beat of false math and unrecognized genius.”
The heart of the record is found in its third track, “Hang With Me”, a sentimental, synth-driven club anthem that previously shined as an ‘acoustic’ version on Body Talk Pt. 1. This version of the song, which combines innocently delivered, stellar pop vocals with a bass thumping electro beat, embodies in 4 and a half minutes everything that there is to love about Robyn (aside from the awesome hair). “Just don’t fall recklessly headlessly in love with me/cause it’s gonna be all heart break/Blissfully painful and insanity.” Too late?
Robyn’s increasingly genuine, relatable pop music continues to be a priceless rarity. Even the Snoop Dogg featuring “U Should Know Better”, which I had initially pegged as the weak spot in the Body Talk series thus far, is full-fledged pop-princess badass – and completely lovable. Clocking in at a little over a half hour, Body Talk Pt. 2′s 8 tracks are just enough to round out the release, proving anyone who may have doubted Robyn’s 3 albums-1 year ambitions 2/3′s wrong.
Posted: September 1st, 2010 under Reviews.
Tags: Body Talk Pt. 2, Hang With Me, Robyn