Robyn looks tough but also sweet and feminine, her voice is very strong and powerful but also has some youngish intonations, sort of Pat Benatar’s voice mixed with Kylie Minogue’s, and her music could be pop in the dance floor with some hip-hop.
The platinum-blonde Swedish star was doing a mini set of songs yesterday night at Amoeba music before her sold-out show at the Music Box the same night. At 31, she has created her own label, produced her music (I told you she was tough) and is about to release the second part of the Body Talk trilogy, Body Talk Pt 2 is due in September, whereas Body Talk Pt 1 was released in June.
I must say I never listen to this kind of music, for some reasons it does not have any appeal for me, it is like being in front of something you don’t understand, or something built with too much symmetry, not enough unpredictability. Although, for Robyn, it would depend on the song, since her range is not restricted, ‘Hang with me’ being pure symphonic pop, ‘Dancehall Queen’ electronic dance beats with some reggae accents (is the title a reference to another famous Nordic band?), and ‘Dancing on my own’ more popish with electro beats.
But Robyn’s personality and talent kept me interested. I kept thinking about Cindy Lauper although I have never seen her live, but there was something of this sort going on, wearing a sexy ultra short black outfit, a girl at ease with her body moves, with a warm personality.
Her music, essentially produced by synthesizers, is largely served by her great voice, but her electronic rhythms are bouncing between originality and triteness, so that’s why it is hard to make up your mind on her work.
At Amoeba, which had suddenly adopted some kind of gay dance club ambiance, the audience was full of die-hard fans who were welcoming each song with a round of applause even before she had started singing, and they reacted with a particularly great enthusiasm to ‘Dancing on my own’, a song about some drama on the dance floor. I was quite fascinated by the attraction she had on her adoring public, which could make her a mini Lady Gaga phenomenon, minus the crazy outfits.
She was shopping at Amoeba before the show, and bought some Janet Jackson, Prince, Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush, Technotronic and she recommended to the staff her favorite album: ‘Silent Shout’ of the Knife.
She will perform a free show at Amoeba in San Francisco today and will continue touring in the US with several dates in NYC: on July 28th (Brooklyn), and August 4th & 5th (New York).