Friday Flash(back) - Robyn - Sexistential

Sexistential is the ninth studio album by the Swedish pop queen Robyn.

Also this is the finale 2026's first season of the Friday Flash(back).

The album was supported by singles Dopamine, the double A-sides Sexistential + Talk to Me, along with Blow My Mind. 

She began to work with Swedish producer Klas Åhlund to provide a sound that would be reminiscent of her previous project, Body Talk (2010) trilogy. 

Robyn described Sexistential like a spacecraft crash-landing through the atmosphere at a really high speed, saying she felt like she had experienced exploring space too far, and now she was colliding with herself again.

Robin Miriam Carlsson, otherwise known (like Kylie) as just Robyn.

Robyn's 1995 debut album Robyn Is Here produced two Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles: Do You Know (What It Takes) & Show Me Love. Her second and third albums, My Truth (1999) and Don't Stop the Music (2002), were released in Sweden.

Robyn returned to international success with her fourth album, Robyn (2005), which brought a Grammy Award nomination. The album spawned the singles Be Mine! & With Every Heartbeat – the latter of which topped the charts in the United Kingdom. 

Robyn released a trilogy of mini-albums in 2010, known as the Body Talk series. They received broad critical praise and three Grammy Award nominations, and produced three top-10 singles: Dancing On My Own, Hang with Me & Indestructible. 

The sleeper hit Dancing On My Own is often credited as her signature song and helped rejuvenate her career. Robyn followed this with two collaborative EPs: Do It Again (2014) with Röyksopp, and Love Is Free (2015) with La Bagatelle Magique. 

She released her eighth solo album, Honey, in 2018 to widespread acclaim.

The Friday Flash(back) will be back later in the year. Expect updates throughout autumn. That's if it ever comes. This summer if hectic!

Album of the Week - Offical Music Videos

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Friday Flash(back) - James Blake - Trying Times

In the second last Friday Flash(back) before the Easter/mid-year break, lets re-meet James Blake Litherland.

In 2024, Blake left Polydor Records and formed his own production house and record label, as part of his brand CMYK Group.

In May 2024, he released his first single as an independent artist, Thrown Around. The following month, Blake released the EP CMYK 002 and Bad Cameo, a collaborative album with Lil Yachty.

Blake contributed Séance, a track created with Ludwig Göransson, to the Sinners (2025) film soundtrack after Göransson (the film's composer) approached him and offered to collaborate.

In January, Blake released the song Death of Love as the first single from his seventh studio album Trying Times, which was released last Friday, through independent label Good Boy Records.

James Blake is known for his emotive, soulful light head voice and use of falsetto, he first gained recognition following the release of three extended plays—The Bells Sketch, CMYK and Klavierwerke—in 2010. He signed with A&M Records to release his self-titled debut album (2011) the following year, which was met with critical praise and peaked within the top ten of the UK Albums Chart.

Blake departed A&M in favour of sister label Republic Records, on which he released his second album, Overgrown (2013) to further critical and commercial success; it likewise peaked within the chart's top ten and moderately entered the US Billboard 200.

His third album, The Colour in Anything (2016), was followed by his 2018 single King's Dead (with Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar and Future), which peaked at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart and number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its success foresaw the release of his fourth album, Assume Form (2019), which became his highest-charting entry on both the UK Albums Chart and Billboard 200. 

His fifth, sixth, and seventh studio albums, Friends That Break Your Heart (2021), Playing Robots Into Heaven (2023), Trying Times (2026), followed thereafter. 

Blake has written and produced work for other artists, Often doing so with his partner Jameela Jamil and others including Jay-Z, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Rosalía, Strick, JID, Travis Scott, Normani, Oneohtrix Point Never, Dominic Maker, and Justin Vernon.

He has won a Mercury Prize from two nominations, two Grammy Awards from nine nominations, a Latin Grammy Award, and three Brit Award nominations.

So ahead of Easter, let's chill, to some incredible music from James Blake. The season finale will land this time next week.

Album of the Week - Offical Music Videos

Album of the Week - JACK HARLOW - {Monica}

Friday Flash(back) - Gnarls Barkley - Atlanta

Atlanta is the third & final album by the American music duo Gnarls Barkley, released last Friday.

Back inn 2008, Gnarls Barkley released their second studio album The Odd Couple, which peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200.

The duo went on hiatus for 18 years, until February 26, 2026, when they announced a third record.

The same day as the announcement, the duo released one of the songs as a single, the song being Pictures.

Gnarls Barkley of course is the soul duo composed of singer-songwriter CeeLo Green & producer Danger Mouse. They released their debut studio album, St. Elsewhere, in 2006. It contained their hit single Crazy, which peaked at number two on the US Hot 100 and topped the UK Singles Chart. It was nominated at the 2007 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, and was platinum certified for shipping over 1,000,000 records.

St. Elsewhere also received a nomination for Album of the Year. Their second studio album, The Odd Couple, was scheduled for release in April 2008, but due to a leak of the album over the internet, they decided to release it early. The album in its entirety received similarly positive reviews.

So let's celebrate the end of this dynamic duo. There will be a few more Friday Flash(back)'s until the end of season one. Stay safe this second Friday the 13th in a row.

Until next week!