Swedish sweetheart Robin Carlsson’s, stage name Robyn, career traces back thirty years, but her ability to stick with the times and carve out immersive electro-pop made her a highlight of this year’s Austin City Limits. The 80-minute set closed out the festival on Sunday, transforming the defeated Zilker Park into a dance floor and giving tired listeners a shoulder to lean on.

Story by Gabrielle Sanchez

Photos Courtesy of Roger Ho

Tracks from her 2018 disco-infused triumph Honey wove seamlessly together as she moved through “Send To Robin Immediately,” and “Honey” at the start of the set. Although she’s recorded music since the 90s, her performance mainly featured hits from Honey and 2010’s Body Talk. In a surprise, the star even played “Beach2k20” the cheeky ambient track that transformed Zilker into a secret club on an exotic beach with siren-eqsue Carlsson alluring us with promises of good food and sweet tunes. We caught first sight of her backup dancer as he appeared, filming her and the crowd on his phone. This was Robyn’s invite to a very special party, which picked up swiftly from there.

There was a fit change, a faux-tit flash and a flawless vocal performance. During the intermission, her dancer, in all the Texas fringe and cow print, gave a dynamic performance of ballet mixed with the current rage of booty-popping. Returning to give us her ambrosia, she floated through the second half of the set. Powerfully emotive, the joy and the heartbreak seeped the air in “Because It’s In The Music” and “Ever Again.” As soon as the chorus opened up in “Dancing On My Own” the crowd erupted, singing the entire thing on their own as Carlsson stood in awe. She took a moment, covering her face as the audience cheered and chanted her name before bursting into the next verse.

There’s no doubt that Robyn’s still got it. I’d be lying if I said I was not surprised at the sex-appeal Carelsson taps into at 40 years old. She broke it down as the dreamy, heartbeat driven songs filled the air. The energy reached its peak during “Love Is Free,” a booming, bounce club track from her group La Bagatelle Magique with producer Christian Falk and keyboardist Markus Jagerstedt. She and her backup dancer intertwined with one another, chased each other across the stage and collapsed in free-flowing love. A constant grooving bass line opened up track after track as we moved through all forms of electronic music, from disco to techno and more current forms of EDM. After having done all of the bops, Carelsson stuck with soft-laden, but still driving “With Every Heartbeat,” reminding the audience to always be brave and never look back because everything in this life is fleeting.

All of her time in the industry has not made the savant lazy. Her performance shows us everything that a pop star’s set should be: emotive, bursting with life and love as well as packed with surprises. At many points in her career she stepped out of the given framework, and she shows no sign of conforming now. It’s refreshing to see a woman at her age still giving it all she’s got, and doing it flawlessly in a genre where only the young and new have been given the spotlight.

Carlsson topped off a day where pop stars were found in all shapes and forms, from a Texan country darling like Kacey Musgraves, to a self-proclaimed beautiful, big black woman like Lizzo, or Spanish Rosalia, who brings flamenco to the states. She topped off a day that proved that the genre has not one face, style or age.