Portland, Maine may ask what celestial force has hit it when Swedish pop star Robyn sweeps through this weekend, painting the quiet maritime city neon with her robot-diva-beats. She is scheduled to play at the newly renovated State Theatre at 8 p.m. on Saturday, a space with the capacity to accommodate the full-scale production of a Robyn concert. Mainers, take off those Bean boots and put on your kicks—Robyn's about to take us on a journey through the unique synths, kickdrums, looped lyrics and strobe lights that comprise her sophisticated pop world.
Upon first glimpse of the platinum blonde (and platinum-record-holding) Swedish pop star Robyn, one might be tempted to assume she is just another Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry or wannabe Lady GaGa. Yet Robyn's music defies such categorization. She is far more sophisticated than Aguilera or Perry, and not quite as bizarre as GaGa. Robyn never attempts to use her music as a form of political commentary (the way M.I.A. tends to), or as a vehicle for sex. Instead, she relates to her audience through a combination of smart, relatable lyrics, catchy melodies and club beats that are sure to have even the skeptics lacing up their dance shoes.
Robyn's album "Body Talk Pt. 1" which has been at the top of the charts in Sweden and has now peaked at number one in the U.S. The album is now proliferating throughout the States (via Interscope Records) and carries influences from The Knife, reggae, bubblegum pop and old-school hip-hop. The acoustic song-turned-club-hit and first single of the album, "Indestructible," is a song that starts off patiently, layering baby synths, clapping and beats before erupting in a chorus about loving without holding back, in spite of being hurt before. This song is one of many examples throughout the album where Robyn speaks to her audience with an honesty and humility that's refreshing: "I've never been smart with love; I let the bad ones in and the good ones go."
Many of Robyn's songs contain such self-reflexive lyrics. "Get Myself Together" features Robyn advising herself to pull herself together and move on after a breakup. She turns the tables in songs, such as "Call Your Girlfriend," in which Robyn carefully advises her boyfriend on how to break things off with another woman in the most respectful way possible—"Say it's not her fault/ But you just found somebody new...the only way her heart will mend is when she learns to love again." While these lyrics may seem trite (which, when compared to "Do you ever feel like a plastic bag / drifting through the wind, / wanting to start again?"—Katy Perry, "Fireworks"—suddenly become incredibly sophisticated) they lend her music an authentically emotive quality that is oftentimes absent from modern radio pop.
Yet describing Robyn's music as modern radio pop would be an understatement. While many radio popstars are constantly being developed and guided by their labels, Robyn has insisted on independence and the realization of her artistic vision. Before signing with Interscope in the U.S., Robyn was signed to Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), under which she released "Don't Stop the Music" before leaving the label in 2006.
In a 2008 interview with Pitchfork, Robyn spoke about the difficulty of working with a major label, and the ways in which she has oftentimes felt limited by her contracts. However, she stated that she is happy under her current contracts: she is working under her own label, Konichiwa, in Sweden, Interscope in the U.S., and Universal Internationally. According to Robyn, these days she's learned that if artists stick to their guns and let people know what they want, even the biggest labels allow artists the freedom they desire.
The song "Dancehall Queen [diplo remix]," alludes to Robyn's past issues with major labels. It's a song dripping with reggae and hip-hop (check out the music video—it feels very grunge, very urban, very late '80s) and features lyrics that are more badass heroine than pop princess: "Now what? Your jaw has dropped / Until the music stop, you know / I still run this thing like a dancehall queen / I really don't want no hassle."
"Time Machine" also has a more aggressive sound that Robyn's other songs. While the chorus is a typical pop ballad, the verses are in a lower key and sound more robot-chic than her other songs. Perhaps the tune with the most intense diva-pop vibes is "Stars 4-Ever," whose title itself reeks of digital pop and over-production. Beyond being a bit cheese (You and me on the hood of my car / Saturday night, watching the stars...I can feel you right here next to me / Forever connected through the stars / It's what we are!), the song is quintessential bubblegum pop—the loops are light and catchy, and the lyrics are preteen poptastic. "Stars 4-Ever" is easily made into a guilty pleasure. I personally can't help but feel like I'm skipping around inside a Lisa Frank drawing when I listen to it.
Robyn says it best in her 2008 Pitchfork interview: "Commercial music is music that a lot of people connect to at the same time, but that doesn't mean it has to be something shallow or without personality." The beauty of quality pop music is that it is relatable to the mainstream population, without sacrificing thoughtful and experimental craftsmanship. With "Body Talk," Robyn has entered the throngs of the great modern pop stars (i.e. Bowie, Prince, Madonna, GaGa), and it feels like this is just the beginning. If you like "Body Talk, Pt. 1," make sure to check out parts 2 and 3, two EPs that were also released in 2010 and did well internationally. And if for some crazy reason there are still tickets to the State Theatre show tomorrow, go get one! Who knows the next time Portland, Maine will be hit with a glitter storm like this one.