Honey (Robyn album)

Reeling from a breakup with longtime collaborator Max Vitali in 2014, Robyn spiraled into a depression that severely deepened upon the death of close friend Christian Falk to cancer for which she cancelled her associated tour. Following an intensive therapy regimen of at least four meetings per week for years that also unpacked everything from an abortion at 18, her parents' divorce, lost childhood then exhaustion in the pursuit of pop stardom in a predatory industry and called-off engagement to Olof Inger, her therapist eventually cut her off, expressing that the excessive appointments were becoming counterproductive. Turning to music, she went clubbing globally for inspiration on a new project. Lost for months, she finally found her spark again after hearing DJ Koze's track 'XTC' for the first time at a club in Los Angeles, describing it as a "revelation".[9] Inspired again, she first reached out to Joseph Mount of Metronomy and they eventually kept collaborating beyond their expected one-off session.[8] Mount said he had to adjust to Robyn's "emotional transparency" while writing, understanding over time that it is "integral to what she does".[8]

Robyn has stated that the album, recorded in part at studios in Stockholm, London, Paris, New York and Ibiza, features "much more production work on my end".[10] She also said the album represents "this sweet place, like a very soft ecstasy. [...] I danced a lot when I was making it. I found a sensuality and a softness that I don't think I was able to use in the same way before. Everything just became softer."[4] Robyn initially began working on the record alone, which she said allowed her to be more sensual.[11] The album was named for its "glowing, transcendent" title track, which The New York Times has called Robyn's "masterpiece".[8]

Robyn created the demo for "Missing U" in the summer 2014 on her laptop along with a LinnDrum machine and a software synth.[2] She noted that the lyrics for the song took 2 years to complete, before finishing them with producers Joseph Mount and Klas Åhlund.[2]

Robyn became more involved in the production of Honey than she had been on her previous albums, including making beats herself.[8] This resulted in sounds including what The New York Times called "outré future pop" on the track "Human Being", "sensual throb" on "Baby Forgive Me" and "playful '90s house" on "Between the Lines".[8] The song "Send to Robin Immediately" samples the 1989 house track "French Kiss" by Lil Louis, which was the idea of English musician Adam Bainbridge, better known as Kindness.[8] Pitchfork writer Jason King notes the album is a "breathless, existential post-disco record".[2]

Robyn announced she was working on a new album in February 2018 and teased new music throughout the year; she even appeared at one of the regular Robyn-themed dance events hosted at the Brooklyn Bowl, where she played "Honey" in full for the first time.[12] At the Red Bull Music Festival in New York in May 2018, Robyn stated: "With this album I've gone more back into the softer I get, the more it happens, and the more colors and dynamic a song gets. And for me, that meant shutting down for awhile and being sparse with my impressions and sensitive to what I needed."[10]

The album was officially announced by Robyn in a video message posted to her social media accounts in September 2018. She explained, "It's a personal album, and there are so many things that happened throughout making it that it's really hard for me to explain in one go. I think the best way is for you to listen to it."[11] On 24 September, Robyn revealed the track listing.[13] The full version of "Honey" was premiered by Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1 on 26 September,[14] and was made available as a two-track single online the same day[15] along with the album becoming available to pre-order.[16]

On 20 June 2020, Robyn released four limited edition 12" vinyls, which featured remixes of songs from the album. The four editions of vinyls included "Honey", "Ever Again", "Baby Forgive Me" and "Between The Lines / Beach2k20". They were issued as part of the Love Record Stores Day 2020 event and 500 copies of each vinyl were manufactured.[17]

Honey debuted in at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart (dated Nov. 10), earning 15,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music, with 11,000 from traditional album sales.[18]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.3/10[19]
Metacritic	89/100[20]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[21]
The Daily Telegraph	[22]
The Guardian	[23]
The Independent	[24]
The Irish Times	[1]
NME	[25]
Pitchfork	8.5/10[26]
Q	[27]
Rolling Stone	[28]
The Times	[29]

On review aggregator Metacritic, Honey has received a score of 89 out of 100 based on 22 reviews from critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[20] Stacey Anderson of Pitchfork rated the album 8.5 out of 10, giving it the distinction of "Best New Music", and called it an "enthralling record" that "carries the sheen of being created on purely individual terms, on a singular timeline". Anderson said that Honey "builds a bridge from its predecessor, the bionic Body Talk, into a place of new conviction and warmth", with Robyn presenting musical ideas "in a way that makes her resolutions feel both instinctive and deeply traveled; melodies and emotions resolve simultaneously, slowly, and imperfectly, without editorialized conclusions".[26] In her review for AllMusic, Heather Phares gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5, claiming "Robyn continues to make the trends instead of following them, and with Honey, she enters her forties with some of her most emotionally satisfying and musically innovative music."[21]

In a capsule review for Vice, Robert Christgau gave the album a three-star honourable mention () and lamented "how I wish she was the pop sparkplug, club buddy, big sister, and strong lover of the glorious old Body Talk trilogy, but either she doesn't have the hooks anymore or she thinks she's beyond them"; "Missing U" and "Between the Lines" were cited as highlights.[30]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer.
• Lyrics of "Missing U" partly inspired by "Arvet" by Bruno K Öijer.
• "Send to Robin Immediately" contains a sample of "French Kiss" by Lil Louis.

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Honey.[47]

• List of Billboard number-one electronic albums of 2018
• List of number-one singles and albums in Sweden