Robyn "Sexistential" (2026)

Sexistential

udgivet: 27. mar. 2026

format: digital (9 x File, FLAC)

[vurdering: 4 / 5] [3,76]

producer: Klas Åhlund

selskab: Konichiwa - nationalitet: Sverige

Udvalgte numre: 1. "Really Real" - 2. "Dopamine" (4 / 5) - 4. "Sucker for Love" - 6. "Talk to Me" - 8. "Light Up"

9. studiealbum fra svenske Robyn følger hele 7½ år efter albummet Honey (okt. 2018). Tilbage ses Klas Åhlund som medkomponist og producer efter at været fraværende / fravalgt på 2018-udgivelsen - og ellers har Åhlund været med Robyn på alle udgivelser siden det selvbetitlede 4. album fra 2005.

Robyn har lavet en del forskellige albums i årenes løb uden at lyde som andet end... Robyn, og i den kontekst har Åhlund nok en rolle at spille uden det er klart, hvor stor indflydelse han har i det store billede. Albummet er et af de kortere af slagsen med sine blot lidt over 29 minutters totale spilletid fordelt på 9 numre. På den måde minder det i format om de to første udgivelser i "Body Talk"-serien Body Talk Pt. 1 (jun. 2010) og Body Talk Pt. 2 (sep. 2010) uden at dette nye album nogen steder benævnes som et decideret 'Mini-album'. Sådanne format-angivelser er ligesom blevet underligt antikvariske størrelser efter streaming-tjenesternes dominans, hvor spilletid er blevet noget ganske sekundært, mens det primære synes at være at kunne fremvise nye udgivelser.

Udover Åhlund er der som vanligt et mindre sammenrend af medsangskrivere og komponister, hvor det er svært at pege på andre end Åhlund som gennemgående figurer, og på den måde fremstår albummet nok mere som en samling nye numre lavet med forskellige andre, som Åhlund og Robyn så i sidste ende har fået til at fungere som et samlet hele. De to første numre fremstår måske mere som en slags singler, som også er kendetegnet ved at være lavet i samspil med andre kendte kunstnere. "Really Real" er lavet med Jonathan Bates fra amerikanske rockband Mellowdrone - han er også medkomponist på "Sucker for Love" sammen med Svein Berge fra norske Röyksopp, og "Dopamine" er skrevet med hjælp fra britiske Taio Cruz, hvorimod resten af numrene er lavet under medvirken af især svenske kunstnere, sangskrivere og producenter som fx Oscar Holter, Elvira Anderfjärd og så et gensyn med Max Martin (aka Martin Sandberg), som tidligt i Robyns karriere stod bag flere af hendes første store hits.

Resulatet er noget, der i mine ører umiddelbart falder mere i tråd med Body Talk-trilogien end en fortsættelse af Honey, men det er samtidig noget andet - noget nyt. Jeg synes ikke helt vi er på højde med tidligere tiders høje standarder, dertil er der et par helt anonyme numre med, hvilket er for meget, når vi er på så kort spilletid, mens de fremhævede numre alle har særlige kendetegn, der gør det til den temmelig unikke Robyn-musik.

I håb om en gentagelse af flere udgivelser samme år, så er dette dog indtil videre klart anbefalet.

[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The Times 4 / 5, PopMatters, Uncut 3,5 / 5 stjerner ]

Lorde "Virgin" (2025)

Virgin

udgivet: 27. jun. 2025

format: digital (11 x File, MP3)

[vurdering: 3 / 5] [3,02]

producer: Lorde & Jim E-Stack

selskab: Universal Music New Zealand - nationalitet: New Zealand

Udvalgte numre: 1. "Hammer" - 2. "What Was That" - 4. "Man of the Year" - 6. "Current Affairs"

4. studiealbum fra den newzealandske popkunstner Lorde, også kendt som Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor. Albummet udkommer fire år efter Solar Power (aug. 2024), som var genstand for begejstrede anmeldelser. Enkelte fandt det poleret og formløst, mens andre så det som et potentielt mesterværk. I den henseende har Lorde delt vandene hos fans og kritikere siden sin internationale debut med albummet Pure Heroine (sep. 2013). Det var et album, som vakte en del opmærksomhed, selvom opfølgeren Melodrama fra 2017 i vid udstrækning nok må anses som hendes egentlige gennembrudsalbum. Det toppede både albumlister verden over og sikrede kunstneren flere internationale musikpriser, men det var også så massiv en succes, at Lorde efterfølgende forsvandt fra rampelyset i en periode. Hun har allerede oplevet den form for succes, som mange drømmer om, men de færreste opnår, og den korte rejse mod toppen inden for pop er uundgåeligt forbundet med en pris.

Personligt er jeg ikke i målgruppen, og jeg har det lunkent med den musik, hun er udkommet med indtil videre. Lorde er et navn, der på det nærmeste er umuligt at komme udenom, og det er den eneste grund til, at jeg har lyttet til hendes albums. Igen: Jeg er ikke en del af målgruppen, og jeg har ganske enkelt svært ved at nyde dette album. For mig, er det en generisk popmusik, der lyder som så rigtig meget andet derude, og som jeg ikke finder nogen glæder ved. Det er uden tvivl uptempo, det er flot produceret, og det holdes primært i en positiv stemning - der er bare for mange ting ved det, jeg ikke bryder mig om. Fx er arrangementerne for tætpakkede - det opleves som effekter til at udfylde huller for at undgå kedsomhed eller tomrum? Desuden lyder mange numre ens, og jeg formoder, det er en god indikator for, at det ikke er min stil - lidt ligesom når jeg prøver at forstå en Wagner-opera: Jeg ender med at kede mig og synes, det grænser til det usmagelige.

Hvorfor så 3 ud af 5 stjerner i stedet for et sted under 2,5, kunne man spørge. Tja, jeg anerkender vel iboende kvaliteter... Det er ikke sådan, at jeg føler mig udsat for noget skadeligt, og der er bestemt god energi at hente i musikken, som jeg også finder velegnet til fysisk udfoldelse; jeg ville sikkert endda værdsætte albummet i det lokale fitnesscenter. Især "Hammer" vil jeg karakterisere som et ret iørefaldende electropop-nummer. Ganske hæderlig baggrundsmusik. Jeg er heller ikke på bølgelængde med kritikerne, da de fleste priser Virgin som Lorde's næstbedste album til dato, og jeg forstår ikke hypen. Mange sammenligner hende med Kate Bush: et ungt, ekstraordinært talent, der skriver og komponerer musik i en alder, hvor det burde være umuligt... Jeg ser bare ikke sammenligningen, men finder den villet, fordi der savnes en ny Kate Bush (?). Men det må være god musik, bare ikke for mig, og hvis dette er en reel udfordrer til hendes bedste nogensinde, forstår jeg vinket: Jeg bør nok ikke lede efter skjulte perler i denne boldgade – hvilket muligvis gør dette til min eneste kommentar til musikken fra denne nutidige popgigant. Man skal dog vare sig med at sige 'aldrig', eller jeg kunne tilføje Never for Ever [!]..

Ikke anbefalet.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, The Guardian, NME 4 / 5, Pitchfork 7,6 / 10 stjerner ]

The B-52's "Wild Planet" (1980)

Wild Planet
release date: Aug. 27, 1980
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Rhett Davies, B-52's; Chris Blackwell (exec. pro.)
label: Island Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Party Out of Bounds" - 2. "Dirty Back Road" - 3. "Runnin' Around" (live) - 4. "Give Me Back My Man" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Private Idaho" - 6. "Devil in My Car" (live) - 9. "53 Miles West of Venus"

2nd studio album by The B-52's follows closely on the same path laid out on the debut from '79 with an uptempo new wave with strong bonds to the 1960s surf rock - especially thanks to the guitar-sound as played by Ricky Wilson. The strong musical and stylistic resemblance with the debut may be explained by the fact that the band already had "too many" songs in its repertoire when they began recording songs for the debut album, and instead of releasing an unlikely double album for its debut, the band just shelved these songs for a later release. This is a documented fact as The B-52's played most of these songs at concerts as early as 1978.
The album cover nearly duplicates the debut cover as it's held in the same style depicting the band members in what seems an early 1960s time bubble.
Wild Planet is a strong album without any fillers, and it's really an astonishing thought if they had actually pulled it off and released all songs on a double album in '79. They really could have, and it only makes it so much more reasonable to listen to these two albums at the same time.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 5 / 5 stars ]

Best of 2013:Stromae "Racine carrée" (2013)

Racine carrée

release date: Aug. 19, 2013

format: 2 lp (gatefold) (orange vinyl) / 2 lp vinyl (2026 reissue) (gatefold)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,16]

producer: Stromae with various others

label: Mosaert / Island France / Universal - nationality: Belgium

Track highlights: 1. "Ta fête" - 2. "Papaoutai" - 3. "Bâtard" - 4. "Ave Cesaria" - 5. "Tous les mêmes" (live) - 6. "Formidable" (live on KEXP) - 7. "Moules frites" - 8. "Carmen" - 9. "Humain à l'eau" - 10. "Quand c'est?" - 11. "Sommeil" - 12. "Merci" - 13. "AVF" (feat. Maître Gims & Orelsan) (live)

[ full album live ]

2nd studio album by Stromae following 3 years after the acclaimed Cheese (Jun. 2010) is like that produced by Stromae himself and released on his own label Mosaert via Universal Music France. And 'produced by himself' this time means co-producing with various others. Only Thomas Azier is co-producer on 3 tracks, Aron Ottignon co-producer on 2 tracks, and then follows 13 other artists as co-producers on individual tracks. I guess, Stromae perhaps wanted a more multi-facetted sound on this compared to the strict and more simplistic debut, although, he's still very much in charge of everything.

All songs and music are credited Stromae except three tracks: tracks #4, #8, and #13 are co-composed by Orelsan (aka French rapper Aurélien Cotentin), and track #13 also with Maître Gims (aka Congolese-French rapper Gandhi Alimasi Djuna). The title of the album is French for 'Square-root', which is underlined on the front cover with the symbol '√x' - something that suggests an exploration of his own roots, musically, and with regards to his identity - ultimately, pointing at circumstances and influences that has formed him as an artist and as a human being.

Cheese came out as an international monster hit debut selling Platinum and Gold in a number of countries and making it to number #1 in Belgium, number #6 in France, and Stromae went from quite anonymous to world famous with one single album. Racine carrée follows closely in the footsteps of the predecessor and it contains some of the same identifiable originality that he laid out three years earlier, and then it adds to his characteristica. Musically, it's a stunning accomplishment to par and even better the great debut with something that more than equals and proves his worth as composer, songwriter and arranger by showcasing new dimensions to his talent. The album is filled to the brim with dance-oriented tracks and hooks and then he continues his speciality by mixing chanson with club & dance. Lyrically, this appears to be filled with a critical perspective on modern life, racism, personal relationships, and more. It's all-encompassing in what appears as another exceptional album. He speaks about so many things here that makes it near extreme. He narrates about SoMe, about a poisonous relationsship, a note on cancer, a reminder about mixed races, a song about pretention, and a song about how the human race appears to have evolved beyond what's reasonable, there's a hommage to Cesária Évora, a song about his father... Every song matters and it works on so many levels that it leaves you almost speechless. What a gifted artist!

Strongest recommendation.

[ allmusic.com, Metro 4 / 5, Télérama 4 / 4 stars ]

Edit 2026:

The 2026 reissue is a double vinyl album with 3 tracks on each side but with the exclusion of the final track "AVF" for reasons unknown. The song appears in the original issue of the album. Nothing has been declared regarding the omission. Guesses are basically two-fold: 1) it's about credits as the song is co-composed by the two artists Maître Gims and Orelsan - the latter is also co-writer of track #4, and supposed conflict of interest is the presence of Maître Gims, who has been subject of several controversies, which releates to plagiarism, homophofia, and most recently: he has been subjected to investigations regarding money laundering. I think, Stromae simply wanted to cut the connection by leaving out a track involving Gims. 2) Perhaps the main reason is that the song doesn't represent what Stromae is all about. The title 'AVF' is short for 'Allez vous faire!', which means 'Go fuck yourself!' / 'Fuck you!" and alone that makes much sense sinse the lyrical content of the song doesn't coinside with the other songs on his album, or any other album by Stromae - this is simply not part of his artistic identity. The really bad thing is that it's musically one of the fine ones on the album.

2013 Favourite releases: 1. Stromae Racine carrée - 2. Arctic Monkeys AM - 3. Tindersticks Across Six Leap Years

Robyn "Honey" (2018)

Honey
release date: Oct. 26, 2018
format: digital (9 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,84]
producer: Joseph Mount (primary)
label: Konichiwa Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Missing U" (live on Later) - 2. "Human Being (feat. Zhala)" - 3. "Because It's in the Music" - 4. "Baby Forgive Me" - 6. "Honey" (live on Later) - 7. "Between the Lines" - 9. "Ever Again"

8th studio album by Robyn released some 8 years following her previous studio album Body Talk from 2010. The album has various producers - with Joseph Mount as the album's main producer on 6 out of 9 tracks, and with Klas Åhlund (Robyn's main co-writer on 5 tracks), as producer on 4 of the songs.
The album spawned the two singles, "Missing U" released in August and the title track released the following month reaching number #13 and #23 respectively on the Swedish singles charts. The album topped the charts in Sweden and it's her best-faring album on the US albums chart list as number #40, and it was soon attributed positive reviews from major music magazines and sites world-wide, which I fully understand.
A first listen doesn't necessarily convince the listener of a major development when comparing to her previous albums, but already on a second or third confrontation I notice how the songs are composed with a slower and more progressive approach where the single songs stand out as near-monumental compositions - musically as well as lyrically. There's a presence of maturity all over the album - something one cannot ascribe her previous seven albums, and the sensation is more indirect but perhaps more life-strong as contrary to her bolder dance-floor hits.
Honey is no less than one of Robyn's best and most coherent albums to date, as well as a major album of the year. For a year or so, I had this at a first spot, but in retrospect I found two albums bettering another really strong release by Robyn. She basically dunnit again, although, the lasting impression leaves me with the sensation that it doesn't reach the high level of the 2010 nor the 2007 albums - but lesser will do more than fine.
Recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4,5 / 5, 👍NME, Q Magazine, The Times 4 / 5 stars ]

2018 Favourite releases: 1. Jon Hopkins Singularity - 2. The Fratellis In Your Own Sweet Time - 3. Robyn Honey

Beth Ditto "Fake Sugar" (2017)

Fake Sugar [debut]

release date: Jun. 16, 2017

format: digital (12 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,60]

producer: Jennifer Decilveo

label: Sony Music - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1."Fire" - 2. "In and Out" - 3. "Fake Sugar" - 5. "We Could Run" (4 / 5) - 6. "Oo La La" - 8. "Oh My God" - 9. "Love in Real Life"

Full-length studio album debut by Beth Ditto (aka Mary Beth Patterson) following more than six years after her solo EP debut EP (Jan. 2011). Since then, she released A Joyful Noise (May 2012) with Gossip, and then around 2016 she publically announced than she would concentrate on her solo career and her clothing line - meaning we should not expect any new albums from Gossip.

Fake Sugar is a much expected release - her EP debut was released to fine reviews, and that showed us a new side to her talent, and then people just imagined a full album was on its way, but it took much longer than anyone had foreseen. Musically, this is not styled in her new-found territory of dance-pop or electropop, but more like something following a stylistic pattern in-between the 'final' 2012 Gossip album and her EP - at times she 'goes hard rocking Gossip', whereas other songs ("Do You Want Me To") are closer to the dance-pop / electropop of EP, but no matter what: the album is held together by Ditto's wonderful vocal. In this regard the album isn't a strong coherent product that show us where she goes from here, but then again: she doesn't have to choose one style over the other 'cause she basically demonstrates that her vocal simply fits whatever she explores.

Fake Sugar is something as unusual as a synthpop, hard rock, electropop, and indie pop all-in-one album showcasing Beth Ditto as one of the most charismatic voices of modern popular music. To me, she represents a similar vocal grandiosity as Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, and Mariska Veres did in their time. She simply hightens the musical quality and lifts what appears as ordinary songs to something with a lasting potential. She's no less than a natural force.

[ 👍allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, PopMatters 4 / 5, 👎Pitchfork 6,1 / 10 stars ]

Stromae "Cheese" (2010)

Cheese [debut]

release date: Jun. 21, 2010

format: cd / vinyl (2022 reissue) (gatefold)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]

producer: Mosaert

label: Mosaert / Vertigo / Mercury / Universal - nationality: Belgium

Track highlights: 1. "Bienvenue chez moi" - 2. "Te quiero" - 3. "Peace or Violence" (4 / 5) - 4. "Rail de musique" - 5. "Alors on danse" (5 / 5) (live) - 6. "Summertime" - 7. "Dodo" - 8. "Silence" - 10. "House'llelujah" - *12. "Alors on danse (90's remix)"

*Bonus track on CD and vinyl (first time on vinyl in 2014).

[Stromae presentation of the album]

Studio album debut by Belgian electronic artist Stromae (aka Mosaert, aka Maestro, aka Paul Van Haver) formerly known as Opsmaestro. The full album debut follows several single releases and the self-released four track ep debut Juste un cerveau, un flow, un fond et un mic… (2007). From early on, Stromae wanted to be in full control of his music and together with brother Luc he established the production label Mosaert (one of several anagrams for Maestro).

Cheese is mostly electronic dance but since Stromae appears to be influenced by Belgian chanson, African music as such and world music in general, there are traits from other styles and genres to be found on an album that still holds up as something almost extremely coherent, thanks to Stromae's sense for arranging and also his unique vocal.

I did not come across the album until a few years later and after listening to the major hit song "Alors on danse" via the satiric sketch video by French actor and comedian Jamal Debbouze.

Cheese is a wonderful and strong debut on which Stromae showcases his speciality concerning subjects and themes. On a superficial level, his music and songs are playful and full of joy and positivity - related to the dance genre - but his lyrics are quite opposite and deals with injustice, prejudice, poverty, discrimination, and personal conflict - a formula he has continued ever since.

Cheese is Stromae's third best album - in a total of three, which may not seem impressive but when this first came out, it was great. It still is.

Highly recommended.

[ 👎allmusic.com, 👎The Guardian 3 / 5, Album of the Year 4 / 5 stars ]

Grimes "Art Angels" (2015)

Art Angels

release date: Nov. 6, 2015

format: digital

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,55]

producer: Grimes

label: 4AD Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 2. "California" - 3. "Scream" (feat. Aristophanes) - 4. "Flesh Without Blood" - 5. "Belly of the Beat" - 6. "Kill V. Maim" - 7. "Artangels" - 9. "Pin"

4th studio album by Canadian act Grimes [aka Claire Elise Boucher].

It's a refreshing and original bubblegum and art pop album with lots of tempo.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "History of Modern" (2010)

History of Modern
release date: Sep. 20, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: OMD
label: Bright Antenna - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "If You Want It" - 3. "History of Modern (Part I)" (live) - 4. "History of Modern (Part II)" - 9. "Sister Marie Says" (live)

11th studio album by OMD is the band's comeback album and its first studio album in 14 years as the direct follow-up to Universal from 1996.
The band's disbandment in 1996 lasted 10 years, and the reformation wasn't something that was anticipated, but an invitation from a German television programme and the fact that McCluskey's wife recently had filed for a divorce and moved back to California with their two children apparently made the necessary interruption that paved the way for a re-union. This was not just any project-version of the band but the original quartet and the most acclaimed constitution of the band featuring the two songwriters Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys backed by Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper.
Prior to the works on this album the band toured in 2007 performing the Architecture & Morality album live, and a new remastered version of the album was released.
History of Modern is pure synthpop with traces of dance pop that also characterised the album Universal from 1996, and I don't think it's just coincidental that these two albums released 14 years apart sound much the same 'cause many of the album's tracks have been written by McCluskey alone or with former co-writers several years ago, so it's really a bit of an "unclean" restart.
The album harvested luke-warm reviews, some praising OMD's return, others stating that it wasn't really a great comeback; but nonetheless the album went #28 on the national albums chart list. Two singles released from the album, "If You Want It" and "Sister Marie Says" didn't fare well as they only made it to #169 on the singles charts list.
Personally, I didn't embrace this album as a fine return. I think, its biggest fault is the sense of sounding aged like something pre-2000, or: a natural follow-up to the '96 album, which it really doesn't differ a great deal from.
Not really recommended.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, Mojo 3 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Beth Ditto "EP" (2011)

EP [debut]

release date: Jan. 10, 2011

format: digital (4 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]

producer: James Ford, Jas Shaw

label: Deconstruction - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "I Wrote the Book" - 2. "Goodnight Good Morning" - 3. "Open Heart Surgery" - 4. "Do You Need Someone"

Studio solo debut by Beth Ditto, who has teamed up with producers James Ford and Jas Shaw as trio behind all four tracks. This solo effort follows two years after the acclaimed Music for Men by Gossip and it shows a new side to Ditto's talent, or: the style is different, but ultimately, Ditto contributes with her energy and brilliant vocal. Stylewise, this is uptempo dance-music - sometimes touching on alt. dance but mostly it's held in a dance-pop and electro pop universe. "Open Heart Surgery" comes closest to the music by Gossip, although, it's fused by a distinct electronic foundation.

I like it, it's goood, and it's a promising side-kick to the alt. rock by Gossip.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, SputnikMusic 4,5 / 5 stars ]

The Sugarcubes "It's-It" (1992)

It's-It, remix album
release date: Oct. 27, 1992
format: cd (MRCD 3205)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: various
label: Mega Records - nationality: Iceland

Track highlights: 2. "Leash Called Love (Tony Humphries mix)" - 3. "Blue Eyed Pop (S1000 mix)" - 4. "Motorcrash (Justin Robertson mix)" - 6. "Gold (Todd Terry mix)" - 7. "Water (Bryan 'Chuck' New Mix)" - 11. "Hit (Tony Humphries Sweet & Low mix)"

A remix album by The Sugarcubes originally released on One Little Indian. No, it's not an original studio album of new compositions but it's neither a mere compilation of best of, left overs or rarities but an interesting remix album. The songs are taken from the band's three studio albums and most of them have been heavily remixed by various artists. Only "Regina" comes in a Sugarcubes remix, and that's also the compositions sounding most alike the original version. Some tracks have little in common with the familiar song and others still carry recognisable traits from the blue print, and then some are very fine remixes with new stylistic qualities, and yet others are too strange.
The album was the second album that I bought with the band, and perhaps the reason why I didn't bother buying the other two until later. 'Cause many of the best songs from both Here Today... (1989) and Stick Around for Joy (1992) appear on this in heavily "remixed" versions, and frankly, I found these better than the original album versions, although "Birthday" comes in two versions, none of which are better than the original. "Leash Called Love (Tony Humphries mix)" is an even better song here, and all remixes are composed as dance-pop or alt. dance with house as a common denominator, which only add that extra energy to some of the more ('artsy-farty') art pop original compositions.
All in all, a very fine collection.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "Liberator" (1993)

Liberator
release date: Jun. 14, 1993
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,46]
producer: Andy McCluskey, Phil Coxon
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Stand Above Me" - 11. "Christine"

9th studio album by OMD, which continue as McCluskey's solo-project now only featuring Phil Coxon on programming, whereas band member Nigel Ipinson only contribute on one track. All other musicians are credited as additional personnel.

Liberator takes off in the footsteps of Sugar Tax (1991) thus being synthpop and dance pop material and probably the closest to a pure europop and eurodance album.

None of the three single releases from the album were hits - with the first single release "Stand Above Me" topping at #21 on the UK singles charts list. The album peaked at number #14 in the UK.

Personally, I feel more or less as I did with Sugar Tax, it's really not an interesting release, but it's even worse than that and it may even top The Pacific Age (1986) in a negative sense by being the band's least favourable album to date. It's a task to pin out the highlights 'cause what is such a thing when it's really about being least poor of the poor?!

Not recommended.

[ allmusic.com 2 / 5 stars ]

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "Sugar Tax" (1991)

Sugar Tax
release date: May 7, 1991
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,92]
producer: OMD, Howard Gray, Andy Richards
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Sailing on the Seven Seas" - 2. "Pandora's Box" (3,5 / 5)

8th studio album by OMD, which by now has become a solo-project by founding member Andy McCluskey. That is to say: McCluskey has teamed up with a new backing band consisting of the two keyboardists Nigel Ipinson and Phil Coxon reducing OMD to a trio - for live performances the band was extended by Abe Juckes on drums; however, the one-man project becomes more evident when looking at the songwriter credits as keyboardists Lloyd Massett and Stuart Kershaw are credited on some of the album's tracks (without participating) and with McCluskey being sole writer on half of all tracks.
Stylistically, the album was launched as a comeback after 5 years of silence with a new danceable style. The album was well-received - at least by fans, which put the album on #3 on the albums chart list in the UK, equalling the band's highest charting album Architecture & Morality. The single "Sailing on the Seven Seas" was released to promote the album and it also reached #3 on the singles chart list. Critics were split, although, several magazines welcomed the new style.
I only saw it as a confirmation on the band's detour into mainstream. I remember how a friend gladly presented the album to me, and all I could think was how in the world he was unable to hear how poor it was. To me, this certainly didn't make me want to check out new material from OMD, which I sort of continued to neglect for another decade or more.
And yes, the first two tracks suggest a much better album. But the remaining songs are so-so or just fillers to what could have been stretched to a decent ep.
[ allmusic.com 2 / 5, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark "Sailing on the Seven Seas" (1991) (single)

Sailing on the Seven Seas, cd single
release date: Mar. 18, 1991
format: cd
[single rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: OMD
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Sailing on the Seven Seas" - 2. "Floating on the Seven Seas" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Sailing on the Seven Seas (Larrabee Mix)" - 4. "Sugartax"

Single release from the forthcoming album Sugar Tax by OMD. The cd single consists of two tracks (#2 and #3), which are variations of the title track plus the track "Sugar Tax" that never found its way to the album. The style is a combo of synthpop and dance pop, which emphasises drums and keyboards in a very simple and repetitious manner.
The single sold well, positioned the band and made way for the forthcoming album. I can't say that it's a truly great track and I only bought it around 2012 in a second-hand store for next to nothing.

Kele "The Hunter EP" (2011) (ep)

The Hunter EP, ep
release date: Oct. 31, 2011
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,90]
producer: XXXChange

label: Wichita - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "What Did I Do?" (feat. Lucy Taylor) - 2. "Release Me" - 3. "Devotion" - 4. "Goodbye Horses" - 5. "Cable's Goodbye" - 6. "Love as a Weapon" - 7. "You Belong to Someone Else"

7-track ep by Kele, lead vocalist of Bloc Party with four tracks produced by XXChange (aka Alex Epton) (tracks #1, #3, #6 & #7); track #2 by RAC (aka André Allen Anjos) & QNESS (aka Qhubani Ndlovu, South African DJ); track #4 by Daniel Lindegren & Fred Falke, and track #5 by Kele. This is his second solo album not counting single releases. Style-wise, it's a move into a bolder dance-pop universe. My initial response was disorientation and a negative feeling, but as I have come to learn with Bloc Party, new releases rarely deliver the expected and The Hunter EP has something else to offer than meets the "eye". Met on its conditions as a dance music release, this is not entirely bad but it doesn't present any great tracks either.
Not recommended.

Oh Land "Wish Bone" (2013)

Wish Bone
release date: Sep. 16, 2013
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,70]
producer: David Andrew Sitek (1-3, 6-9, 13)
label: A:larm - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 2. "Renaissance Girls" (3 / 5) 3. "Cherry On Top" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "Love A Man Dead" (3 / 5) - 8. "Sleepy Town" (3 / 5) - 9. "Pyromaniac" (3,5 / 5) - 10. "Green Card" (3 / 5)

3rd studio album by Oh Land produced primarily by David Andrew Sitek (tracks #1-3, #6-9, and #13), Nanna Øland Fabricius (tracks #4 and #12), WNDRBRD (tracks #10, and #11), and Dan Carey (track #5). The album is more clear pop-minded, which is a bit sad, as it sort of vanishes in the huge pothole of pop releases. It falls much in the same category as Fallulah, Nabiha, Marina and the Diamonds, and Lana Del Rey as contemporary pop with hints and bits of dance-pop and electropop. It's a vast genre and it's difficult to stay original.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, The Guardian, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

M.I.A. "Kala" (2007)

Kala
release date: Aug. 21, 2007
format: cd
[single rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: various
label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Bamboo Banga" - 2. "Bird Flu" (4 / 5) - 3. "Boyz" (4 / 5) - 4. "Jimmy" - 5. "Hussel" (feat. Afrikan Boy) - 8. "World Town" - 10. "XR2" - 11. "Paper Planes" (4 / 5) - 12. "Come Around" (feat. Timbaland)

2nd studio album by M.I.A. Her debut album Arular (2005) was with reference to her father, and this is dedicated her mother, named Kala. Her third album /\/\ /\ Y /\ (aka 'Maya') (2010), succeeding this one, is literally her own.

I first came across her in 2008 after she had released the single "Paper Planes" taken from this very album. The track is (like most of her music) great uk hip hop dance-pop electropop fused with grime (making it very different from American hip hop) and some glitch pop, and then that track is very cleverly sampled from the song "Straight to Hell" by The Clash. Her style is unique, and then she utilizes her music to speak openly about Sri Lanka vs. India vs. England vs. how the world ignores the impotent political situation in her parents' foster land. Other great tracks from the album are "Bird Flu" and "Boyz", which were both composed, recorded, and arranged in the process of travelling. M.I.A. had laid the foundation of the songs at home, then left to various parts of the world and each new place she rearranged bits, wrote new stuff and added new instrumentation to the individual song making them real world tunes.

In my mind, this is her best album and also one of the most interesting releases in 2007, although, she's really a great singles artist, as her albums are more than just interesting but also lack consistency or homogeneity.

The album ended up on many best of lists including number #1 on Rolling Stone's best albums of the year. And quite deservedly, the album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Robyn "Body Talk" (2010)

Body Talk
release date: Nov. 22, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,18]
producer: Klas Åhlund
label: Konichiwa Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Dancing on My Own" - 2. "Fembot" - 3. "Don't Fucking Tell Me What to Do" - 4. "Indestructible" - 6. "Love Kills" - 7. "Hang With Me" - 9. "None of Dem" (feat. Röyksopp) - 10. "We Dance to the Beat" - 11. "U Should Know Better" (feat. Snoop Dogg) - 12. "Dancehall Queen" - 13. "Get Myself Together" - 15. "Stars 4-Ever"

7th studio album by Robyn, or: a compilation? It's released and filed by most sites as a studio album, but in essence it only contains previously released compositions all issued in the "Body Talk"-series Pt. 1-3 counting two Mini-albums and one ep. I prefer thinking of this as her 2010 studio album consisting of material taken from two mini-albums and an ep. This also makes sense when taking into account that in 2014 she released an ep titled Do It Again with Röyksopp containing five tracks with a running time over 35 mins - longer than any of her two first "Body Talk" Mini-albums. Five tracks here are taken from each of the three "Body Talk" albums: from Body Talk, Pt. 1 we find tracks #1, #2, #3, #9, and #12, from Body Talk, Pt. 2 tracks #6, #7, #10, #11, and #14, and from Body Talk, Pt. 3 tracks #4, #5, #8, #13, and #15 - In bold: great tracks showing that from my perspective, Part 1 delivers three fine songs, Part 2 only one, and Part 3 two fine songs. But really... it's so calculated that she releases five songs from each, when that also means that three songs are left out from both Part 1 and 2, but all tracks are included from the shorter Part 3 ep. The selection of songs could have been better, and I miss "Cry When You Get Older" from Part 1, and I could easily have thought of "Include Me Out" from Part 2 instead of the two minor fillers "Time Machine" and "Call Your Girlfriend" from Part 3.
Body Talk is a fine album regardless how you file it, but at the end of the day, I prefer to have all three "Body Talk" albums instead of just this one.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Slant 4 / 5 stars ]

2010 Favourite releases: 1. Søren Huss Troen & ingen - 2. The Chemical Brothers Further - 3. Robyn Body Talk

Robyn "Body Talk Pt. 3" (2010) (ep)

Body Talk Pt. 3, ep
release date: Nov. 22, 2010
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Klas Åhlund
label: Konichiwa Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Indestructible" - 4. "Get Myself Together" - 5. "Stars 4-Ever"

Studio ep release and final part of the "Body Talk"-series is a minimised album compared to the first two parts, although, they weren't exactly 'normal' full-length albums. The two former parts may still be regarded as actual albums, I think. Credentials for production and songwriting follows the same recipe as the other releases with Klas Åhlund as major partner and driving force. Robyn's initial announcement about releasing three mini-albums was somewhat altered after Body Talk, Pt. 2, which wasn't released until September. Instead, she now spoke of a full-length Body Talk album to end the year; however, this seems like her first take on a compromise. Part 3 is the first natural ep release as it's almost just half the length of the two first single parts with a running time below 19 mins. It contains five tracks, and it's released - on the date - simultaneously with a promised full-length Body Talk album containing selected tracks from all three mini-albums, which then would be regarded as her seventh studio album.
Part 3 full-fills her self-professed idea of releasing 3-albums-a-year in 2010, but it also seems like a compromise in the sense that it's not made as extensive as the two former releases - perhaps she was running out of time, or ideas?? Fact is, the first part wasn't released until June and it should take her another three months to release part 2, and as she was occupied doing live concerts everywhere in a year where she intended to release three albums writing and recording songs while touring... well, needless say, it would take quite an effort, and here as the calendar runs out of months, she could realise her project issuing a single ep, although that would be a bit like letting air out of a balloon, so she also handpicked songs from the three releases and issued the Body Talk album, which in essence feels like a compilation more than a studio album, but as I said, I think that explains the compromise.
After all, Part 3 sums of the year quite nicely. It continues the style of the two predecessors and basically lands somewhere in between in more than one sense. It's styled like a mix of Part 1 and Part 2 as it contains a stronger electropop-style than Part 2, and it also contains some of the same hooks and sparkle that one finds on the first part, and to end the project right, she has included the strong single "Indestructible" in the traditional dance-pop version, which is found on Part 2 in an acoustic version. All in all, it's not the blast it started out as, but it's still more than Okay. Five tracks would be an awesome release thinking of the quality from Part 1, but this ep still contains two obvious fillers, which perhaps points to the conclusion that Robyn was running out of both time and ideas.
[ SputnikMusic, Gaffa.dk 4 / 6, Express.co.uk 3 / 5 stars ]

Debbie Harry "Kookoo" (1981)

Kookoo [debut]
release date: Aug. 8, 1981
format: vinyl / digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,72]
producer: Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards
label: Chrysalis - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Jump Jump" - 2. "The Jam Was Moving" - 3. "Chrome" - 4. "Surrender" - 6. "Backfired"

Studio album debut by Blondie-vocalist Deborah Ann Harry released under her stage moniker Debbie Harry. The style is rather different from what one might expect. The simplistic uptempo new wave has been exchanged with a more funky form carried out by the three prominent members of the American disco band Chic, songwriter / guitarist and producer Nile Rodgers and songwriter / bassist and producer Bernard Edwards and drummer Tony Thompson. The guest trio contributes with a disco and dance pop style and Rodgers and Edwards are the primary songwriters on four of the albums ten tracks and they are co-writers on two. The remaining four songs are written by Harry and Chris Stein with whom she mostly writes material for Blondie and who also contribute as guitarist on the album. Two of the songs (tracks #8 and #10) are credited all four main songwriters.
The two Chic songwriters are credited a vast number of classics within the world of disco, and they later on contributed with their [magic] qualities on Diana (e.g. "I'm Coming Out") by Diana Ross, "Let's Dance" (title song) by David Bowie and Madonna's Like a Virgin album - all that is part of the highs of modern popular music, but here the result is not good. Harry and Stein's punchy new wave style, their admiration for reggae and funk in a simplistic form collide with the much more orchestrated and varied sounds and shapes of disco. Or: that's how it sounds like 'cause what really lacks here is a bunch a good songs. In fact, there's hardly any. The production sound is fine, though, and initial parts of songs are truly far from bad, but the overall picture is bland and it leaves me kinda thinking "was that it?"
The best thing about the album, which puts it on the shelve among classic albums, is actually the front cover artwork made by Swiss artist H.R. Giger.
I acquired the album at some point in the mid-80s just because it was a solo album by Harry but never played it much, as I soon found it lesser album with little connection to the music by Blondie.
[ allmusic.com 1,5 / 5 Rolling Stone 2 / 5 stars ]