ROBYN - Dingwall's - Thursday 14th June 2007

ROBYN

Dingwall's - Thursday 14th June 2007

Photograph courtesy of the amazing Lorne Thomson

How refreshing to see a self confessed pop star converting even the most hardened music critic. Swedish electro pop minx Robyn's self-titled album was released a few months back and was met with the sort of acclaim normally reserved for more 'serious' genres. Even NME proclaimed that it was the finest pop record of the decade! High praise indeed.

Robyn performed a warm-up set at Dingwall's in Camden last night in preparation for her main stage appearance at the 02 Wireless Festival today. Its actually a pity that she is going on first at 02 as those arriving later on in the afternoon will miss out on her infectious hybrid of contemporary tunes.

Despite last nights almost unbearably humid conditions, Robyn's show was a energetic, up tempo delight with top quality song after top quality song. Her playful interaction with the audience and her naturally likable exuberance kept the assorted bunch of fans strutting and singing until the final note.

Kicking things off with Cobrastyle, Robyn came out of the gate fighting and by the second track she had the crowd eating out of her diminutive hand. She went through most of the new album with the highlights being the brilliant, melodic and genuinely moving 'Be Mine!', new single 'With Every Heartbeat' and the pulse pounding 'Konichiwa Bitches'.

During the first encore she performed 'Keep This Fire Burning' better known on these shores for being a Top 20 hit for UK soul songstress Beverley Knight. As it turns out, it was Robyn's first single from her third album 'Don't Stop The Music' and was originally released in her native Sweden in 2002 where it was a massive top 3 hit.

Its difficult to avoid comparing Robyn to other iconic female artists however during tracks 'Who's That Girl', 'Crash and Burn Girl' and 'Bum Like You' it was rather like someone had taken all the good bits of Madonna, Pink, Peaches and Kate Bush; chucked them into a blender and packaged it up as a peroxided, Swedish firecracker.

Her cover version of Prince's 'Jack You Off' was a saucy, hilarious ode to relieving one's partner that was most welcome and proved that while she is undoubtedly a musical force to be reckoned with, she has her tongue firmly planted in her cheek. Interestingly the final encore was a ballad version of 'Be Mine!' a song so good that it deserved a second outing.

While Robyn's sound is unashamedly pop there is a depth of emotion and pathos to her lyrics that puts her in a whole different league to her counterparts. She means every single word and with the help of her brilliant producers has constructed the perfect pop record populated with at least 10 tracks that could easily storm the charts. You can keep your Britney's, Christina's & Gwen's...Robyn is the real deal.

* * * * (4 out of 5 stars)

Matt Williams

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