Album Review: Robyn – Sexistential
2 min read
Robyn has long occupied a space of her own in pop — equal parts heartbreak, hedonism, and razor-sharp self-awareness, all wrapped in pristine electronic production. From the emotional punch of Dancing On My Own to the club-focused reinvention of later releases, the Swede has built a career on turning vulnerability into something quietly powerful. Sexistential, released via Konichiwa Records, arrives as her ninth studio album and follows another extended period out of the spotlight. It’s a title that feels very Robyn — playful, provocative, and loaded with intent — hinting at themes of identity, desire, and the contradictions that sit somewhere between the dancefloor and real life. Enough procrastinating – let’s get into it!!
Hard beats great you in Really Real in a track that is all about the driving tempo of the bass beats, with Robyn’s lyrics playing sidekick, while Dopamine retains the raw intensity of the beat, but the lyrics are more prevalent and the synths have a little more musical range and depth to them. Blow My Mind gets a reworking after twenty-something years from its release first time round in 2002, with new lyrics (about Robyn’s son), and it will be as popular now as it was then (i.e. very), and Sucker for Love feels like a direct offspring of her previous two albums, Honey and Body Talk, and has a fantastic synth pattern in the background which is simply fantastic.
It Don’t Mean a Thing is a favourite on the album – buckets of vocoder on the vocals and more than a hint of Prince’s Art of Noise about it – fantastic. Talk to Me feels like some peak 1990’s nostalgia beats with fantastic synths woven in and her unmistakable vocals and lyrical style, whereas title track Sexistential is a good deep house track due for a thousand remixes, and penultimate track Light Up uses great synth harmonies in slower starting track that builds though doesn’t quite have the crescendo I was hoping for at the end. Finally we have Into the Sun which closes the album off in fine style – an almost breaks style beat, with great synth flows through this mid-tempo track, with fantastic lyrics… has to be the best on the album. Great closer.
Robyn has that rare knack of, once having found her formula, reinventing and revitalising it in the most fantastic ways, keeping existing fans happy and bringing in new members to the Robyn club, and Sexistential is a continuation of this ability – the club land beats are woven with fantastic synths and lyrics with depth, making her a firm favourite. This album with scratch the itch of many and undoubtedly be heard in the streets of Soho and beyond. Whilst the album is strong, I particularly like tracks It Don’t Mean a Thing and Into the Sun – and these will be heading to my 2026 favourites. Good job, Robyn… good job!!
