You have to give Robyn credit where credit is due. Not only has she proven to reinvent her image repeatedly to stay on the radar, but she has learned to evolve with a changing music industry. Her most recent endeavor, Body Talk, is a perfect example of why she is capable of remaining fresh. First off, Robyn released the album in four installments. Body Talk, Pt. 1, Body Talk, Pt.2 and Body Talk, Pt. 3 are all EPs. The fourth and final piece is a collection of favorites from those three EPs, simply titled Body Talk.
At this point you’re thinking, ‘Big deal. Why is that so innovative?’ Well, she’s smart enough to realize that people don’t buy music the way they used to. With the rise of MP3s and their portable players we can now pick tracks as we please. In order to attract a bigger audience, releasing the tracks in pieces made them much more accessible. Not to mention that spreading the downloads and hard copies over the course of a year also gave her time to really focus on the music. In other words, the finished products were not rushed. In terms of marketing, packaging and promoting it’s pure genius.
By dividing the album she was also able to focus on its visual appeal. As you can see above, the album covers alone are gorgeous. And that’s not including the photographs used as the covers for her singles. Yes, Robyn’s cover art was given as much attention as the music. The post-it inspired look on Body Talk, Pt.3 and Body Talk was designed by Australian fashion artist Lucy McRae. She has pictures up on her blog showing the steps it took to create the image. She is also responsible for Robyn’s music video for “Indestructible.” She has a post featuring a short “Making Of…” documentary for it.
With an ever-expanding realm online and in audio-visual media in general, it takes a real fighter to survive. If musicians don’t catch on quick they’re likely to be left in the dust. Hopefully Robyn’s instinct will keep her in the game.
Matty C.
P.S.
Just for fun I have posted a live video of Robyn performing “Dancing On My Own” for iheartradio below. Feel free to rock out to it:
