It’s only fitting that Robin Miriam Carlsson gave one of the only good performances at last weekend’s VMAs because she may also be one of our last dance-pop saviors. Britney is busy plotting another comeback, and Christina is busy with her baby, so that leaves us with Robyn, and while Pt. 1 may have hit shelves just two months ago, Carlsson didn’t waste anytime releasing the second chapter of her deeply personal Body Talk series of EPs.
She gives Diplo (who produced “Dancehall Queen” on Pt. 1) a crack at another track (“Criminal Intent”), but makes sure fellow Swede, Klas Ahlund, is at the controls for the majority of the set. His hands are on seven of Pt. 2’s eight tracks, and he helps craft a set of songs the find Robyn no longer looking for love like she was on Pt. 1, but warning listeners of the perils of lives led by passion and yearning.
“Love Kills” is a pulsating, club-ready, tune that finds our heroine telling us not to go looking for love, instead offering this bit of advice: “Protect yourself/ ‘cause you’ll wreck yourself…shield yourself/ ‘til that one kind soul reveals itself.” The only thing preventing the four-and-a-half minute banger from becoming a completely depressing affair is the entrancing production from Ahlund and NYC-based beat makers, Savage Skulls.
Even though we get a fleshed out update on Pt. 1’s acoustic version of “Hang With Me,” the real treat here is “You Should Know Better.” While it may be annoying to hear Snoop Dogg open the track with his signature “Oooh wee,” the hyper-kinetic beat is instantly memorable, and listening to Snoop rap in French is priceless. He rhymes “Roma” with “bone her,” but Robyn still somehow manages to steal the song by singing about throwing Molotov cocktails in the bar and declaring that “the prince of darkness knows better not to fuck with me.”
Unfortunately, what really shouldn’t be fucked with is Pt. 2’s acoustic track – “Indestructible.” Unlike “Hang With Me” before it, this unplugged, string-laden, song is almost indigestible. The exaggerated flourishes of violins are far too dramatic to take seriously, and the song is definitely Tums-worthy. Despite the misstep, the album still scores on the strength of songs like the bass-heavy, futuristic, “We Dance to the Beat,” and the affair as a whole definitely leaves one longing for Ms. Carlsson's third and final installment.


Post new comment