Album Review: Dagny – Dancefloor Erotica
3 min read
Dagny has spent the best part of a decade quietly proving herself one of Scandinavia’s most reliable pop exports — all bright hooks, emotional directness, and the sort of euphoric song writing that makes heartbreak sound weirdly life-affirming. But Dancefloor Erotica, released via Little Daggers Records, feels like a deliberate pivot rather than rinse and repeat. Written after becoming detached from songs she was performing, the album was conceived as a reset: bolder, freer, more physical, and less concerned with polish for polish’s sake. Described as “Scandinavian Strut” — the album created with the inner critic ignored, and a head-first dive onto the dancefloor. Time to find out whether the reset really hits stride, or if the Dancefloor Erotica doesn’t hit the spot!!
Short spoken statement intro (This is the Mantra) moves swiftly to the bouncy Dancefloor Erotica – a catchy track from chorus to verse, vocals and instruments… with an air of Gaga and Sia about it, and a hint of 1980’s electro-pop, all without sounding like a homage to any… very good! GOSH! is also of a high standard, though the lyrics/vocals (including Metteson’s) don’t mesh with the lyrics as well for me, where C’est La Vie continues the deep funky house beat, and more than a hint of ABBAs Voulez Vous about the chorus, and the same beat flows through Closet Disco Queen which feels similar to the previous track but with a change of chorus (this one feels more Gaga than ABBA).
More of a breakbeat (think Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy beat) to Running Down A Hill which is definitely the most down tempo track to this point, which switches into a very Robyn-like electro track in Turns Out I’m Not A Robot, and then on to thumping early 00’s chart tech house beats with Black Bugatti, and the style switches up once more into the full on dance pop track that is Sweat. Penultimate track (Everyone’s A Dancer) is a short, atmospheric harmony of vocal tones and synths, which leads us into Rain which has gospel notes in the chorus in an otherwise solid electropop track – very chart friendly!!
Some will be disappointed with the new artistic and musical direction of Dagny – but I’m not one of them. Yes, we lose the catchy melodies and the powerful and clear vocals of previous, corporate releases, but now the room is darker and more atmospheric… and besides, you can clearly see in the production of Dancefloor Erotica that this is an artist that’s enjoying her craft. My only minor gripe is that it feels like she’s come out of the other side of a bad musical relationship, and is somewhat grasping around to find what her musical direction is (within the broader dance genre), and I would suggest she needs to find her niche and focus on it (somewhat like Goldfrapp or Robyn did early doors). But other than that, I feel the breakup has been good for her, and am looking forward to see if and what musical sub-genre she settles on with her next releases.
