Robyn: Body Talk Pt. 2

It took nearly three years for Robyn’s 2005’s self-titled effort to trickle over from her native Sweden to the UK to the States. Given the slow percolation of that album, Robyn’s desire to charge ahead with a three-album sequence released in quick succession is understandable, and the second entry in this year’s Body Talk series is proof that the increased momentum suits her. After ending Body Talk Pt. 1 on a low-and-slow note, Robyn bounds back onto the dance floor on Pt. 2 with seven breathless, synth-driven gems before taking another respite with the orchestral album closer “Indestructible,” which will likely receive the same sort of up-tempo reworking on Pt. 3 that “Hang With Me” gets this time around. Like any good sequel, Pt. 2 dials up its predecessors’ best parts: “Hang With Me” reprises the anthemic, emotional beats of Pt. 1’s “Cry When You Get Older”; “Criminal Intent” ratchets up the sexiness of “Fembot” and adds a Peaches-like electro-bounce; and the album highlight, “U Should Know Better,” has the same club-bumping energy and smirking sass of Robyn’s “Cobrastyle,” with a Snoop Dogg cameo as the cherry on top. Only “We Dance To The Beat” hews a little too close to the robotic chill of “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do” to avoid feeling like a retread, but overall, Body Talk has more than enough life in it to power through into Pt. 3.