A valid criticism of Robyn’s latest (and eponymous) album is its unbalanced delivery of songs, collecting the slower more reflective tunes at its end. However I believe this is a better approach than the usual random delivery of ballads that tend to appear throughout every pop-based album. Margaret Berger’s Pretty Scary Silver Fairy works around this by wrapping ballads inside dance tunes. It wouldn’t have worked on Robyn’s album because of her desire and ability to emote, which she does most effectively, and sometimes a song deserves, requires, a certain treatment.

Eclipse dramatically breaks away from what appears earlier by delivering something breathtaking: a ballad without the usual string theory, without the overuse of instrumentation to emphasise words and feelings. Using just a sprinkling of piano keys and an upright bass, Robyn sings a song, not of what has happened, nor what might happen, but of a guarantee of what will happen – all turning on one word.

Robyn – iTunes UK
Robyn – Amazon UK