The Swedish electronic pop star Robyn has become synonymous with emotive dancefloor music ever since she went global 13 years ago. On songs like ‘Dancing On my Own’ and ‘With Every Heartbeat’, she perfected melancholic dance music, with the skin of pop music and the thrust of release that comes with carefree abandon.
It’s been eight years since the singer has released a solo record yet her reputation remains undiminished.
Last night, Robyn finally broke her silence, with ‘Missing U’ a song that fits right into the classic Robyn mould, co-written by long-time collaborator Klas Åhlund with Joseph Mount of Metronomy. “This is empty space you left behind / now you’re not here with me,” she sings while cascading synth notes fall around her.
Robyn has always used the vernacular of dance music to push through that pain, to find a breakthrough in heartbreak.
“I keep digging through our waste of time / but the pictures incomplete / cause I´m missing you,” she admits.
Dancing can only do some much. The pain is still there, the loss is still present, beneath the red lights and disco ball. We dance, but it still hurts.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
