When Robyn released “Missing U” in late July, I realized just how long it had been since she last released a proper album. It has been eight years since Body Talk, her electronic-drenched, career-defining album which brought her universal acclaim and provided the world with “Call Your Girlfriend” and “Dancing on My Own” (the latter of which was more recently thrust into public consciousness thanks to Calum Scott’s acoustic cover). Unfortunately, though, Robyn went through a good amount of personal trauma since Body Talk, facing the death of a close friend and musical collaborator, as well as the end of a long-term relationship. “Missing U,” a masterful track, reflected this feeling of loss in the way Robyn invented: a pulsating club beat that rendered more palatable her desperate, longing lyrics and vocals. I fully expected Robyn to dance her pain and insecurity away the way she had in her many previous hits. However, after second single “Honey” was released, it was clear that this album, while still exploring the influence of house music that Robyn is enamored with, would allow Robyn’s vocals more room to breathe and allow listeners to marinate in the emotions created by the swelling synths. If Body Talk showed Robyn dancing in a club, flailing her limbs around, making impulsive decisions and living in the moment, then Honey would show Robyn hours later, sitting on the street as the club is closing, overtaken by emotion as memories of the night’s events surface in her brain.
Well, even my second impression wasn’t completely correct, but many tracks from Honey have a reflective mood which seems to come right after an event of intense sadness or euphoria. On the bare “Human Being,” Robyn feels isolated after a relationship dissolves, and begs anyone to fill the void left in her life, singing “don’t shut me out/you know we’re the same kind/a dying race.” This song perhaps comments on the recklessness of her earlier work and reveals the emotional trauma one can feel from trying to seem indestructible, something Robyn has done many times before. On the next track, the celestial “Because It’s in the Music,” Robyn continues to struggle to move on from a dead relationship, juggling nostalgia with dread and regret, singing, “I remember feeling like/‘this is never gonna end’/nothing lasts forever/not the sweet, not the bitter.” Honey offers a glimpse into Robyn’s personality more than any of her previous albums; where previously she presented her vulnerability with a façade of carelessness, here she longs for transparency and connection, and dwells in this vulnerability.
An interesting fact about this album is that the track list is ordered chronologically – that is, in the order that Robyn wrote each song. This fact makes the album’s ending, uplifting and hopeful, even more powerful, since it seems that Robyn has found happiness again, and has changed for the better through her difficult experiences. When “Baby Forgive Me,” a pristinely produced track that swallows listeners whole in its melancholy, transitions directly into “Send to Robyn Immediately” and later the title track, “Honey,” Robyn shows that she will no longer allow herself to wallow in her emotions, exchanging the feelings of defeat for those of hope. Singing, “If you’ve got something to say/say it right away/If you’ve got something to do/do what’s right for you,” we see her shift her worldview. She’s done waiting and sitting in sadness; instead, she urges her former love, or maybe herself, to make a choice and move on. After making this choice, the rest of the album feels so completely free, experimental, and light, snowballing into the pop perfection of “Between the Lines” and “Ever Again.” Again, this is made more powerful knowing that she wrote the album in this order. The blooming of this album after a period of melancholy is reminiscent of “Supercut” towards the end of Lorde’s Melodrama, yet so perfectly crafted as to evade subtracting from the effectiveness of either album.
Will Honey influence the pop landscape in the same ways as Robyn’s earlier work? Robyn is widely credited with increasing the individuality of pop and creating the basis for songs that bring vulnerability to dance music. The influence of the latter idea is obvious in the last decade of pop, where songs that juxtapose sadness with a club beat can be found around every corner, especially since the impact of “Call Your Girlfriend” and “Dancing on My Own.” Will the style of Honey be emulated for years to come? Pertaining to the former idea of individuality, can Robyn change the path to pop stardom? Emerging around the same time as pop-robot Britney Spears, Robyn seems to embody everything against what Spears and future cookie-cutter pop stars established. In fact, in 2005, Robyn started her own record label after disagreeing with her label about the direction of her sound. Will her prolonged success cause more artists to seek alternate pathways to fame? Or has it already done so?
The impact of Honey will surely become evident in a few years, but until then, let’s enjoy one of the most compelling pop albums of the year.
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