After teasing us with the mini-albums Body Talk Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 earlier this year, Swedish pop singer-songwriter Robyn unleashed a compilation of the complete trilogy, simply named Body Talk. It is one of the best albums of the year.
Body Talk culls the best from Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 while throwing in the five new songs from Pt. 3. (The EP was released simultaneously with Body Talk in some parts of the world.) Body Talk is the album where Robyn sets out to conquer the English-speaking world. No more songs sung in Swedish, no more acoustic versions — this is a full-on attack to take over the global dance floor.
Whereas it closed Pt. 2 with an orchestra backing Robyn’s naked, delicate voice, “”Indestructible”” returns as a perfect ballad for a club in outer space. Over layers of pulsating synths and a beat that mimics the rhythm of a heart in love, Robyn insists that she will “”love you like I’ve never been hurt before / I’m going to love you like I’m indestructible.””
Like some of the best pop albums, love dominates much of Body Talk, but it isn’t the heady rush of falling in love. Instead, the love Robyn expresses on the album comes from someone who has had her heart broken repeatedly and has made her fair share of mistakes, yet still finds the strength to continue her search. In one of the new songs, “”Get Myself Together,”” Robyn sings, “”There’s no denying the mess that I got us in, / and I’ve been trying my best not to make a scene. / Just can’t make sense of it all, / it’s like my mind is gone.””
“”In My Eyes”” follows by responding, “”Hey little star, don’t be afraid. / We all fall apart and make mistakes. / Don’t you know nothing ever seems to make sense? / You put on your dancing shoes and do it again.””
While the songs flow into each other musically, Body Talk mixes love, robots, braggadocio and self-affirmations in ways that can sometimes be jarring, such as the transition from “”Call Your Girlfriend”” to “”None of Dem.”” But in the end, Robyn deftly moves from one topic to another without leaving us too far behind.
With Body Talk, Robyn proves that she can take on the world — at awards shows, on late-night talk shows, on dance floors — without sacrificing herself in the process. Robyn shows us that a pop diva can be smart and still let the DJ help us find love.
