The Swedish musician decided to pursue motherhood alone, and found it came with a surprising sexual awakening \u2013 a story she lays out on her new album, her first in eight years<\/p>\n
Robyn sits silently, eyes closed, for what feels like a full minute. \u201cWow,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is really deep\u201d It has been eight years since this elder stateswoman of alt-pop released music. She is talking about how, since then, her life has fractured and reassembled. The 46-year-old Swede\u2019s previous album, Honey, was finished in the afterglow of repairing her engagement to director Max\u00a0Vitali. Now, she\u2019s no longer in that relationship, she\u2019s raising a three-year-old son, Tyko, whom she had by IVF, on her own, and she has also reckoned with the scars of her own childhood, growing up in an exploitative music industry.<\/p>\n
We meet in a breezy attic above a recording studio in London to talk about her new album, Sexistential \u2013 an ode to letting your guard down and feeling things deeply. \u201cDefending my right to be myself and be vulnerable,\u201d she says. She\u2019s wearing biker boots and a mesh hoodie, and has tucked a bomber jacket, two overflowing handbags and a black leather sailor hat into the nooks and crannies of the sofa as if constructing a\u00a0nest around herself. She\u2019s thrilled to be back. \u201cI\u2019ve\u00a0never released an album as a parent<\/em>, so it\u2019s really exciting to work<\/em>.\u201d She laughs, flashing a chipped tooth. \u201cWhen I do get time for myself, it\u2019s liberating and fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/cbbaed549a012dc66ac46478fa201edd2578b5e2\/0_0_4875_3900\/master\/4875.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=2fdb2c081c7d2096a8f1e63068cf3856\" "\\"Pop")
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