Robyn is back to break our hearts on the dance floor again

If you have ever sung Dancing On My Own at the top of your lungs, with a lump in your throat and a cinematic stare out of the window (or your eyes closed in a club at three in the morning), you were probably born in the late eighties or early nineties and you know exactly what I mean when I say that Robyn had the power to emotionally destroy us. She certainly did me. And with that song in particular, it was not only Robyn’s colder, more restrained, dance-floor version that broke me, but also Callum Scott’s, the one that sounded even more real, even more intimate. Ahere is the kicker to end the introduction: I was in a happy relationship. Perfectly happy. Yet I was on the verge of heartbreak over an entirely fictional situation I had invented in my head, purely so I could have a scene for Robyn to play as my emotional background soundtrack.

The new album from Swedish pop icon Robyn

That is why the news of this Swedish pop icon returning after eight years does not belong in the category of “casual music updates”, but rather the kind that hits every millennial straight in the head with a wave of nostalgia. So what is happening? Robyn has announced a new album, Sexistential, due out in spring 2026, and released three new tracks that make one thing very clear: she is not coming back quietly, but fully herself. Sensual, introspective and, of course, danceable, in that very specific dancing-alone-while-my-heart-is-slowly-falling-apart way of hers. It will be her first album since Honey in 2018, an album that was described as the soundtrack for emotionally functional nights and dysfunctional relationships. Okay, it was not officially described that way. That was my personal interpretation. But feel free to run with it.

Photo: Marili Andre

The first single, Talk To Me, co-written with Max Martin, sounds like it could become a new classic for anyone who enjoys dancing while thinking about messages they never sent. Melancholy and euphoria, once again in perfect balance. Robyn knows her territory. The second track, Sexistential, is far more direct. Minimal, slightly defiant, almost a manifesto about the body, desire and identity. I like it less than Talk To Me, but I can hear Robyn’s signature in both. The third one, Dopamine, is my personal favourite. You can listen to it below.

The album will feature nine tracks in total, and Robyn says it dives deep thematically into the body, pleasure, creativity and vital energy. It feels as though, if Dancing On My Own was the soundtrack to our first great emotional breakdowns, Sexistential might become the soundtrack to the more mature, more sophisticated ones, but no less painful. If it lives up to expectations, Robyn may well return as a reminder that pop music can be intelligent, vulnerable, danceable and brutally honest, all at the same time.