Robyn Talks Her Upcoming Three-Part Album

When the reggae-tinged Robyn song “No Hassle” (or, as some sites have referred to it, “Dancehall Queen”) surfaced last month, it kicked off a wave excitement about her new material. After all, it’s been five years since her self-released eponymous album of Swede pop jams made her an across-the-board Internet favorite. The 30-year-old singer further raised eyebrows when she told Swedish mag Bon that she’d be releasing three (!) albums this year.

Cut to Stereogum catching up with Robyn to get the scoop on her planned prolific 2010 output.

As it turns out, she won’t be releasing three full albums so much three separate pieces of a whole album. “I think this splitting a full album up into different releases is, in a way, how people listen to music as well. It’s more about songs now,” she told Stereogum.

You might recall that Jason Mraz used a similar tactic in 2008 with his We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. LP—he dropped each part as a four-track EP ahead of the full album’s release that May.

Robyn continued: “But for me this is not an EP or a lesser version of an album. It’s an album, but it’s maybe not the normal length, so I can go back to the studio again and release these songs while they’re actually fresh, and go back to the studio and work on more stuff while touring.”

In addition to cranking out “No Hassle”/”Dancehall Queen” with Diplo, Robyn also worked with her “Piece Of Me” and “Be Mine!” producing partner Klas Ahlund on a few tracks, including one called “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do.”

As for another new song called “Fembot,” Robyn told the site, “People expect things of you, like kids and like marriage, and I found myself just thinking of that a lot while making this record, so the song is about that in a way, but it’s also fun. I’m playing around with the concept of being a woman, and what it means to physically be able to carry kids, but at the same time that’s not always what you see yourself as.”

If all goes according to plan, the first part of Robyn’s new album will be released this spring, with part two following in the summer and part three out in fall or winter. Consider us excited.