Show her some love: Robyn. Photo by Samantha Rapp.
By Joshua Rotter
Swedish singer-songwriter Robyn – best known in the US for her 1997 pop-R&B Top 10’s “Show Me Love” and “Do You Know (What It Takes)” – might’ve been just another industry casualty, quickly fading into obscurity stateside due to record company mismanagement and a lack of creative control.
But on the verge of giving up in 2003, she discovered fellow Swedes the Knife’s Deep Cuts CD, and reinvigorated by their electro-pop and independent spirit, collaborated with them on the beat-heavy fuck-you to her label “Who’s That Girl.”
Soon she founded her own label, Konichiwa, and with producer Klas Åhlund (Teddybears), recorded her fourth studio album, the more electro-based Robyn, due out in the states this spring. Till then, her new The Rakamonie EP gives American audiences a preview of what’s to come on tracks like the boombastic confidence booster “Konichiwa Bitches,” the dance smash “With Every Heartbeat,” and a dancehall cover of the dirty Prince classic “Jack U Off.”
Now, a decade after her initial hits, Robyn returns to the US on her own terms for a three-city mini-tour to promote her new album. She’ll appear at Popscene on Thursday, Feb. 7. But is this country ready for the pint-sized Swedish bombshell? Robyn was confident in a phone interview earlier this week from her first tour-stop in New York City.
SFBG: What is it like to be back in the US after a decade?