Robyn debuted songs from her new album ‘Sexistential’ at an intimate show in London last night (Thursday March 26), and treated the crowd to some classic bangers. See footage and the setlist below.
The Swedish pop icon played a one-off gig at the Hackney Empire in the capital to launch her long-awaited new record, which was released today (Friday March 27) as the follow-up to 2018’s ‘Honey’.
She ran through a 21-song set, kicking off with the first live outing of ‘Sucker For Love’ from her ninth LP, per Setlist.FM. Later, Robyn aired recent singles ‘Talk To Me’, ‘Blow My Mind’ and ‘Dopamine’, as well as the ‘Sexistential’ title track.
There were also live debuts for ‘Really Real’, ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing’ and ‘Light Up’ from her latest full-length effort.
Robyn showcased numerous fan favourites from her back catalogue, too. These included the global smash hit and NME‘s Number One song of the 2010s, ‘Dancing On My Own’, as the final track of the encore, and ‘Call Your Girlfriend’.
Earlier, the former NME songwriter of the decade played ‘With Every Heartbeat’, ‘Be Mine!’, ‘Hang With Me’ and ‘Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do’. Her 2018 album, meanwhile, was represented by the ‘Honey’ title track, along with ‘Ever Again’, ‘Missing U’ and ‘Between The Lines’.
She performed her 2024 Jamie xx collaboration, ‘Life’, as well, among other cuts. See a selection of fan-shot videos from the show here:
Those who attended the small gig have been sharing their thoughts on Reddit and across social media. “Hackney Empire show was so good!” wrote one user.
“My first time seeing Robyn live, and it was amazing (especially being in an intimate venue),” they added. “New songs sounded great live as well 🙌.”
In the replies, a fan agreed: “Such a great set and so generous too considering it was an album release show (was worried it’d be like 45 mins).” Someone else praised the “insane setlist”, adding: “I cannot believe I got to witness that!! She was incredible as always…but even better in such a small venue!!”
Another person said Robyn “seems to get better and better”, while a separate comment read: “Such a perfect setlist and the only oldie I really missed was [2010’s] ‘Indestructible’!”
Elsewhere, on YouTube, a user wrote that ‘Dancing On My Own’ at Hackney Empire “really blew my mind”. On Instagram, someone said the concert was filled with “banger after banger after banger”, and that they “cried” during the performance.
Robyn played:
1. ‘Sucker For Love’ (live debut)
2. ‘Talk To Me’
3. ‘Hang With Me’
4. ‘Blow My Mind’ (‘Sexistential’ mix)
5. ‘Really Real’ (live debut)
6. ‘Cobrastyle’
7. ‘Ever Again’
8. ‘Dopamine’
9. ‘Honey’
10. ‘Be Mine!’
11. ‘Between The Lines’
12. ‘Love Is Free’
13. ‘Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do’
14. ‘Sexistential’
15. ‘Life’
16. ‘With Every Heartbeat’
Encore:
17. ‘Missing U’
18. ‘Call Your Girlfriend’
19. ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing’ (live debut)
20. ‘Light Up (live debut)’
21. ‘Dancing on My Own’
In a glowing five-star review of ‘Sexistential’, NME hailed the album as “a joyride that’s both serious and silly”. It added: “Post-‘Honey’, Robyn is looser, more limber; this is an album about feeling everything all at once.”
Robyn will bring ‘Sexistential’ to the stage on her headline arena tour in the UK, Europe, North America and Australia this year. The UK leg includes a massive show at London’s O2 in July. Visit here for UK tickets, here for Australian tickets, and here for North America.
The singer is also scheduled to open for Harry Styles in Amsterdam this May as part of his ‘Together, Together’ tour.
In other news, Robyn said earlier this year that she hated Elon Musk “way before it was cool”. She added: “For me, I started hating him when he put a Tesla into space with a David Bowie song on it.”
