Gifted, All Natural, and Splitting the Seams

Robyn “Konichiwa Bitches” – One does not reasonably expect much from token hip hop tracks on the albums of Scandinavian pop stars, but with this song, Robyn defies the odds and makes me wonder if she ought to be doing this sort of thing on a full-time basis. The beats and keyboards are minimal and perfectly composed, flowing smoothly and changing up consistently throughout the song without distracting attention from her vocals, which sound like an adorable anime version of Missy Elliott. There’s a very delicate balance being maintained here, keeping it from tipping too far into tweeness, and I suspect that it is kept mainly because it’s so clear that Robyn isn’t totally kidding around. The lyrics are certainly meant to be humorous, but the love for hip hop is very earnest, and it’s clear that she has a musical understanding of the genre that many cutesy hip hop dilettantes lack. (Click here to buy it from CDON.)

The Chap “Baby I’m Hurt’n'” – Ah ha, an energetic song about being tired! The Chap chug along for a few minutes on a simple groove, building up to a clangy climax before almost entirely dropping out the percussion and transposing the central guitar riff to a scratchy, out of tune cello for the outro. The vocals and lyrics are playful and silly, though not quite as clever and witty as other songs on their new record. It’s a bit hard for this to compete with lyrics like “I met you at the post-glitch laptop show / I was impressed, I was impressed / your take on the post-Parka look stood out / I told you about my studio setup.” (Click here to visit the official Chap site.)