However you dice it, Robyn was a gem...the fizz and snap of tracks like "Konichiwa Bitches" and "Who's That Girl", the chilly post-millennial electro-pop waves of "With Every Heartbeat", the pared-back genius of "Be Mine!" - it all added up to something somewhat out of the ordinary, and an album that stood up to repeat listens remarkably well.
Coming after that, Body Talk Pt. 1 is a confounding record. It plays more like a longish ep than an album, leading off with four cuts of polished commercial dance-touched pop before a second half comprised of three songs in wildly disparate styles (none particularly successful, and one, "Dancehall Queen", actively annoying) and then the 2 minute, lullaby-like "Jag Vet Dejlig Rosa", which does work, though by the time it appears, it feels completely out of context.
The main problem with the record is that the personality of Robyn herself, which came through so clearly on her self-titled lp, is largely buried - while the first half of Body Talk Pt. 1 is perfectly listenable ("Cry When You Get Older" in particular is catchy), there's nothing on it that demands attention or that feels especially fresh, a few tantalising hints of the pop thrills of which she's capable notwithstanding, and the second half is just a hodge-podge. Alas!
