release date: Jun. 14, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,98]
producer: Klas Åhlund
label: Konichiwa Records - nationality: Sweden
Track highlights: 1. "Don't Fucking Tell Me What to Do" - 2. "Fembot" (live) - 3. "Dancing on My Own" (live) - 4. "Cry When You Get Older" - 5. "Dancehall Queen" - 6. "None of Dem" (feat. Röyksopp)
Mini-album by Robyn released five years after her latest original studio album not counting her modified 2007 album. Like that, this is made almost in partnership with producer and songwriter Klas Åhlund but also with Patrik Berger with whom she also worked with on her 2005 album.
The album only contains 8 tracks and has a rather short running time just clocking 30 mins. But as the title suggests, this was promoted as her first release in a series of 3-albums-a-year-project of 2010, which made it more than an ordinary release.
The first part of the series takes off pretty much where Robyn ended, or at least in a similar direction when thinking of her hits from that album. It's dance-pop and electropop with an intensified focus on the latter, and with six fine tracks out of eight, this is a blast of a start of an ambitious project. The album introduces the implementation of re-using songs in acoustic-ordinary versions from Part 1, 2 and 3 respectively. This contains the acoustic version of "Hang With Me", which is found on Part 2 in the standard version, and likewise Part 2 contains an acoustic version of a song appearing on Part 3.
Only the single "Dancing on My Own" was officially released to promote the album, although also tracks #2 (made available in Mar. 2010), tracks #5 and #6 were released individually as digital singles only. "Dancing on My Own" topped the charts in Sweden (becoming Robyn's first number #1 national hit single), at number #2 in Denmark number #8 in the UK, and number #3 in the US (Hot Dance Club Songs Chart). Also the album topped the national albums chart list and it reached number #3 in the US for Dance / Electronic albums. Needless say, it received wide-spread acclaim.
My only regret is the short playing time, but I simply find it her so far best album release to date. A spontaneous question naturally arises as to how Part 2 couldn't but disappoint after this start, but of course it also made people pay attention and keep them hungry for more, although, in retrospect, I think it would have been optimal with a one album release - that would have been a bomb!
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Slant, The Guardian, Spin 4 / 5, Rolling Stone, NME 3,5 / 5 stars ]
