Music Review/Album: 01 Dec 2010
Paul Nolan

Body Talk Pt. 3

Third mediocre outing in twelve months for Swedish starlet

After Body Talk Parts 1 and 2, this is the final installment in Swedish pop singer Robyn’s 2010 trilogy of albums. Perhaps acknowledging that producing three full-length records in one year is a tall order, the 15-tracks on Part 3 are comprised of five each from the previous two albums, in addition to five new tracks.

This album has received considerable critical acclaim and Robyn has been a much written about artist this year, but as with the previous two Body Talk albums, I found the final outing to be decidedly underwhelming. Robyn certainly has a few decent electro-pop tunes, but to suggest that she has reinvented pop music in the manner that, say, The Neptunes did in the noughties is risible.

Tracks such as ‘Indestructible’, ‘Time Machine’ and ‘Get Myself Together’ are bland exercises in formulaic pop that probably won’t be keeping Lady Gaga awake at night. As with the first Body Talk album, by far the best song here is the Miss Kittin-esque groover ‘Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do’, while there is also plenty to recommend in the hypnotic club track ‘We Dance To The Beat’ and the Royksopp-produced sonic headfuck ‘None Of Dem’.

Unfortunately, though, Robyn is still a long way from being top of the pops.

Key track: ‘Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do’