Having had skin in the game for decades and gaining notoriety with hit singles like “Dancing on My Own” and “Call Your Girlfriend,” Swedish pop star Robyn Carlsson isn’t new to the game, but true to it. Her brand of electronica-infused pop blurs the lines between avant-garde abstraction and dance-floor firestarters.
Sexistential is her return to music after her album Honey in 2018. A lot has happened to Robyn since then, including isolating during the pandemic and having a son through IVF from an unknown father, which paused her music-making for a time. After seeing the world and taking her time, she returned to trusted producer Klas Åhlund and set out to rediscover herself through harmonic vocals, spoken word and shameless sexual expression.
“I really felt like I was crashing into myself again. I wanted the album to feel like it was hitting with a hard impact,” Carlsson said.
“Really Real” ponders whether her feelings during sex are valid, with fragmented and fluctuating trains of thought over harsh percussion and squelchy synths. “Dopamine” speaks to the chemical rush of satisfaction from love, sex or any pleasure, and the lack of fear surrounding it, with bright, bubbly chords.
“Blow My Mind” is a clean and polished reworking of her song of the same name from her 2002 album Don’t Stop the Music, with an incidental breathy phaser effect. “Sucker for Love” feels like a spiritual sequel to “Dancing on My Own,” but instead of retreating sadly into the corner, Robyn ambushes her love interest and insists that love is always worth it, regardless of the consequences.
“It Don’t Mean a Thing” is heavy with letdown and the sadness of wasted potential with a romantic partner. “Talk to Me” is a cheeky, euphemism-filled track about phone sex, taking the listener on a steamy journey of self-exploration.
The title track, “Sexistential,” has Robyn nonchalantly rapping about her sexual needs, motherhood and the problems surrounding it, all while grappling with existential dread. The words “it’s” and “existential” combine to form “sexistential.”
“Light Up” is an upbeat anthem in which Robyn finds redemption through a lover who sees her despite her mistakes and emotions. “Into the Sun” then subverts that trope, portraying a lover as an untimely end, like burning up while approaching the sun’s atmosphere.
The album is a piece of pure Europop in true Robyn fashion. While only nine songs long, Sexistential covers a lot of ground, giving a strong voice to the extremes of women’s libido and emotions while shedding the normalized shame surrounding them.
If men can croon about it, why can’t women? Amid a turbulent world, it’s a refreshing turn of taboo into truth.
7/10
