If you didn't know, I can tell you for certain: Robyn is the hottest thing on Earth at the moment. She is talented as hell and she murdered a performance at the Trocadero last night in her usual charming way. She can move. She can fucking dance her ass off and you know what? It was hot as Hades in there and it was pretty packed. She came out in these high waisted white pants with a bold red floral, a small little halter tank and a billowy black jacket that she wore for about one half of a song before it came off. She got covered in sweat and thank goodness, for it. She was like a sexy pop machine.
And she's working that futuristic vibe in the most delicious and almost understated way. She's slowly but surely building herself up to giant international pop star status and while I will be absolutely pumped to check out future legs of this tour, when her other two Body Talk records are out, this might be one of the last times to have seen her at a smaller place like the Troc. Soon enough she'll be at the Electric Factory or the TLA. She came out with "Fembots" blazing, the charming should-be single from June's Body Talk Pt. 1 in which she likens herself to a sex machine. These are some of the most playfully sexual pop lyrics in recent memory: "Pull up in docking position, Pop the hatch and hit ignition" and "In fact I'm a very scientifically advanced hot mama, Artificially discreet no drama, Digitally chic titanium mama." One of the things I love most about Robyn is how hot she is in a modest, urban kind of way with clothes that are baggy on purpose. She's got a great body but because she's healthy, she dances her ass off every night.
I'd been YouTubing and watching Vimeo videos of her for a few nights leading up to Tuesday night. I had to educate myself on her self-titled 2005, her triumphant return to America's airwaves after the monster hit "Show Me Love" in '96. Robyn has some phenomenally solid pop tunes on it, too. I'd listened to the new Body Rock record on repeat, over and over, late at night coming home from the bar, cleaning house, drinking beers. I've grown to know this record very intimately and somehow I hadn't found the self-titled until recently. There are some awesome hits and she busted them out last night including the Knife collaboration "Who's That Girl?" The beat is drowsy and funky and she coos about good girls, they're "always pretty, like all the time, I'm just pretty, some of the time." Such a clever little girl, isn't she? I was slightly disappointed that she didn't perform "Handle Me," a quirky hip hop flavored single, but she did pull out the old favorites "Be Mine!" and delivered an unforgettable closing encore version of "With Every Heartbeat."
Who's That Girl from Robyn on Vimeo.
She also nailed versions of Body Talk gems "Dancehall Queen," "Don't Fucking Tell Me What To Do" and, most importantly, the seriously infectious and powerful single "Dancing On My Own." This is the song she performed on Letterman flawlessly and passionately, and made a video for that is outstandingly well made. In it she sings of that familiar feeling of being in a club and seeing the one you want kissing another guy, or girl. You can run to the bar and be the drunk one, or you can say 'Eff that, I'm gonna just dance really well and enthusiastically. He will notice and he will admit his mistake.' Obviously Robyn chooses option 2 and she even made up some dance moves in the process. They're so simple but they fit in perfectly with the opening of the second verse: "I'm just gonna dance all night." Her arms shoot up to her chest and she pops them cheerleader-like across her chest, then fly up, fists pumped then down to her hips, one after the other. "I'm all messed up, I'm so out of line" she plays invisible drums to the left, to the right, more quick arm pops, slowly at tics with her right arm, swing it around to the other. "Stillettos and broken bottles, I'm spinning around in circles" and she punches right right, left left, spins her arm like a windmill and then herself. It's just so damn charming.
Robyn 'Dancing On My Own' (Official Video) from Robyn on Vimeo.
What was missing from last night show was the new and deliriously charming single from the upcoming Pt. 2. "Hang With Me" is on Pt. 1 as a slow, acoustic version of a beautiful plee and for this new single she's turned it into a joyous, shimmery dance track. It's the perfect summer love song: "Don't fall recklessly, headlessly in love with me, Cause it's gonna be, All heartbreak, Blissfully painful and insanity." A perfect video accompanies of our pop heroine on tour in busses, backstage, getting primped and lying around in hotels, and working a whipped up crowd into a frenzy. I'm finding it more and more difficult to take her advice with this one, I'm just gonna go ahead and fall in love with you. I want the blissful painful insanity.
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