Saturday, May 22, 2010

stilettos and broken bottles

So I'm stuck at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. Apparently, US Airways had a glitch in their check in kiosks. That prevented me from making my flight home.

No worries. Time to strap on the headphones, listen to some tunes and enjoy a frosty beverage from Starbucks in the gleaming, brand riddled terminal.

Much has been made of Robyn's return this year. The first single from the first of three forthcoming EPs has been unleashed on a salivating public. And now the video for "Dancing On My Own" hit the interwebs in the last 24 hours.


Clearly, Robyn has a slightly bigger budget to work with than many acts these days. What I'm most happy about is her comfort level with herself. Robyn doesn't fix her crooked, snaggle tooth. She doesn't try to look rail thin. She looks assured. Yet there is a twinge of shyness in her bravado. There's a sense of vulnerability cloaked by her confidence.

Thankfully, she doesn't feel the need to compete with Lady Gaga either musically or visually. The temptation is there for many female artists to jump on the latest trend. It's encouraging to see Robyn forge her own path without succumbing to label pressures or A&R intrusions.

"Dancing On My Own" mines a similar vein as her previous album. It's cold and detached while simultaneously managing to be warm and inviting. It showcases the euphoric melancholy only the Swedish can capture perfectly. Heartbreak and alienation married to a disco beat.

My only concern is that all three EPs will be easily distilled into one amazing album. That remains to be seen. But after hearing "Body Talk, Part 1" I suspect that might be the case. Some of the songs are brilliant. Others are average.

However, her sense of adventure radiates with a serious playfulness which only enhances her creative efforts. Robyn is not an ice maiden nor a bubblehead. She rides that fence right down the middle yet she's far from ordinary.

3 comments:

  1. We did it again! Same post, same day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. the line "stilettos and broken bottles" is VIVID. The club imagery that it conjures is poetic. to say NOTHING about the pathos that this song taps into for ANYONE who's ever had an unrequited crush...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rupaul's Drag Race All-Stars used this song for the 'lip synch for your life' and two really dear friends Raven and Jujubee had to sing against each other and the pathos of the song fit so well with the fact that the duo were splitting up and one of them was going home, period. WOW! It worked wonderfully.

    ReplyDelete