Album Review

Robyn – Body Talk Pt. 2

• 3rd Sep 2010

Robyn has one of those poptastic voices that let you know: this song is going to be a hit. Combined with her fondness for synth, it transports you back to the late-90s heyday of pop, when boybands had curtains and Girl Power was all the rage, and Robyn herself stormed the charts for the first time with ‘Show Me Love.’ This second part of the three-part ‘BodyTalk’ series is disappointingly less captivating than when Robyn first stormed back into the public eye (and ear) a decade later with ‘Every Heartbeat’.
The eight tracks are not a big leap from ‘BodyTalk Pt. 1.’ ‘We Dance to the Beat’ is an unusual spoken-word track with a Hot Chip-style beat and ‘Include Me Out’ is a mellower, less passionate song than we have come to expect of Robyn, but the rest of the album lives up to her reputation as a floor-filler. Dancefloor anthem ‘Love Kills’ brims with Robyn at her most emotionally-driven, up-beat best (with the emphasis on beat) and ‘Criminal Intent’ is a dirty R n B tune to get down to. The most memorable track is pacey, racy ‘U Should Know Better’ featuring Snoop Dogg with its entertaining (but explicit!) lyrics which will hopefully be the follow-up single to the less notable ‘Hang With Me.’ The album finishes with an opulent acoustic track which showcases Robyn’s voice but fails to grab the listener’s attention.
At just eight tracks each, it’s debatable whether the ‘Body Talk’ series could have been combined into one record. Pt. 2 is a continuation of Pt. 1, but does it really progress far enough to warrant being a separate album? It looks like each of the three parts will play host to a few gems, but individually lack the sparkle to stay at the top of the album charts.