Techno no-no: Behind the steel exterior, Robyn proves that "fembots have feelings too."
Ola Bergengren
Hot List 2010: Robyn
Issue #45
Best Fembot, version 2.0
By Kelley Hecker
Published: February 1st, 2011 | 12:00am
Don’t fucking tell Robyn what to do. This fembot owned music in 2010 by doing it her way on not one, not two, but three albums—each full of airtight, dancefloor-ready anthems that are unabashedly her own. She’s alternately tough and sassy, performing spoken-word on top of club-heavy beats about everyday anxieties and her need to scandalously bump and grind (“Don’t Fucking Tell Me What to Do,” “Criminal Intent”). Robyn is also devastatingly honest, her voice so raw you can feel her pain when she sees her ex with his new girl (“Dancing on My Own”) or warning her friend not to “fall recklessly, headlessly in love with” her (“Hang With Me”).
“Dancing on My Own” was the biggest and best pop cut of the year—even if the charts didn’t agree—featuring Robyn at her finest. Her vocals are so heartbreakingly earnest that by the time she gets to the chorus and asks, “I’m right over here / Why can’t you see me?” alongside the quivering synths and bass, your heart feels for her. That guy doesn’t know what he’s missing.
This openness, this frankness, this willingness to appear vulnerable (in spite of deeming herself a “fembot”) makes Robyn all the more lovable. She’s been in the business a long time. Her first—and for a long time, only—U.S. hits came out when she was just a teen back in ’97 (“Show Me Love,” anyone?). In fact, both that song and “Do You Know (What It Takes)” were co-written with Max Martin, the guy behind just about every smash hit of the past decade. Robyn wasn’t keen on being marketed as “the next [insert blonde pop tart here],” though, and when Jive Records didn’t like the sound experimentation on what would become her 2005 re-breakthrough, Robyn, she said to hell with them and started her own label, Konichiwa Records.
Robyn’s newfound independence, electrodance direction, and collaborations with the likes of the Knife, the Teddybears’ Klas Åhlund, and Kleerup caught the eyes and ears of the blogosphere, and by the time her eponymous record was finally properly released in the U.S. in 2008, she was already a star—albeit, one of the indie world, rather than the mainstream. Pitchfork swoons over anything Robyn touches. When that tastemaking Web site landed her for a headlining spot at their festival this summer, thousands staked out a spot to catch a glimpse of her energetic dance moves and sweet, sweet tunes. At the end of the fest, it was clear that Robyn had one of the best performances of the weekend.
In a time when so many of the front page stars are interchangeable, Robyn effortlessly switches styles and manages to succeed at all of them. There’s a lot of sentiment behind these pop gems, yet the Body Talk series is an apt name for the records. Sometimes you just need to shut off your mind and let all of your worries melt away as your body talks for you...on the dancefloor.
Comments
Want to tell us what you think? Please click here to log in or just click here for quick comments