robyn
Kindness lends his loose and funky charms to Monument, one of the stand-out tracks from Röyksopp & Robyn's recent mini-LP Do It Again... The additional lyrics from Busiswa feel like a bit of an onslaught set against such a laid back track but the last minute or two are pretty special.
This remix comes hot on the heels of the recent preview of World Restart, the first track from the next Kindness album. Hot and heavy summer vibes here with guest vocals from Kelela:
Junior may not address that concern completely but it does have a jolly good try. The sound is a little edgier, a bit more dance orientated in places, but the song writing is still there. Just check out the incessantly chirpy 'Happy Up Here' or 'The Girl and The Robot', a throbbing electronic pop track featuring Robyn on vocals - it's certainly good enough to secure Röyksopp prodctions duties on her next album.
The problem is that Junior still sounds too like Röyksopp. 'Happy Up Here' is catchy but in reality it just sounds like a funky take on 'Eple' with some vocals. As mentioned, the production, the SOUND and feel of these tracks has developed and evolved slightly. 'This Must Be It' takes 'What Else Is There', complete with guest vocalist Karin Dreijer Andersson of the Knife, and applies a new coat of paint. The problem is they've let the pop song beneath rot away leaving a track that is very similar in every way bar quality to a track on their last album.
Junior is nice background music but BlackPlastic challenges you, dear reader, to find one person prepared to name Röyksopp as their all time favourite band. They need to start showing us more - half an idea an album is only enough if you have so much passion that the audience is bessotted with who you are already. Next time - more, please.
As fresh as the last album sounded much of it had existed in one form or another for years and the same is true of this latest piece with Christian Falk. But what makes Robyn one of BlackPlastic's favourite popstresses is the fact that even tracks that have been around a while still sound newer than anything Brit or Xtina have released in pure time.
'Dream On' is your life support system but rather than being made of wires and tubes and maths it is people and friends and wave upon wave of familiarity and reassurance, layer upon layer. As Robyn confirms:
"Rest you weary heads - All is well: You won't be strip-searched, hung-up tonight.
You won't be cut-up, bleeding tonight.
You won't be strung out, cold, shaking to your bones wishing you were anywhere else but right here."
The lyrics may seem cold but the delivery is anything but and when Robyn confidently assures BlackPlastic that they won't want to be anywhere but here our instincts are naturally to trust her: there is nothing but joy here.
BP x
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