Domaine Joly Trousseau and Robyn's Body Talk
Times of despair and desperation call for pulling out the big guns. When the world is collapsing around you, and you’re trying not to get sucked into the sinkhole, there’s no messing around. You need something that’s all at once electrifying, invigorating, raw, brutally honest, exhilarating and ecstatic to jolt you back in place. Something real. Something like Robyn’s “Body Talk” and Domaine Joly’s Trousseau from Jura.
Robyn is a global treasure. As she demonstrates in her formidable work, “Body Talk”, over the course of her career, this Swedish pop star swoops in and out of the spotlight as she pleases like an indestructible fembot, armed and ready to take on the world’s inevitable opposition with seductive ferocity.
Jura is the smallest wine region in France with some of the most distinct, confounding and expressive wines in the world. In between Switzerland to the east and Burgundy to the west, this tiny place makes coveted cheese, light but explosive red wines, and both exquisite and eccentric white wines, including its signature vin jaune oxidized yellow wine made from Savignin grapes under a layer of yeast.
A vineyard in Jura (photo source: thewinesociety.com)
Like Robyn, Jura has this Tasmanian Devil factor, proving that some of the fiercest and mightiest of things come in small packages. Domaine Joly evokes the quintessential nature of Jura wine. Winemaker Cedric Joly is the grandson of Michel who founded the domaine after moving from Champagne following WWII in search of a fresh start.
Cedric brings his experience from working in Burgundy, a region with a similar terroir, to the traditional winemaking of Jura. He makes sustainable, small production wines from the historic grapes of the region. One of the most intriguing is trousseau, a grape that makes light and transparent reds that are wild and aromatic.
The 2017 Domaine Joly trousseau is dirty. Before the fruit hits, you get scents of cow poop and soil. Then, layers of bright red cherry and under ripe strawberry reveal themselves. The palate is light and funky with solid acidity and a long, savory finish. It’s bright with a bite. It’s charming, but not for everyone. It’s very Robyn.
Robyn’s definitive 2010 “Body Talk” couldn’t feel more timely, relatable and necessary right now, amid world-wide pandemic and chaos.
“Fembot” opens the album and let’s you know from the jump that Robyn did not come to play. This track is a full bop. Robyn comes out the gate with an electro dance banger, announcing she’s in “mint condition” and “ready for demolition”. In a word, she slays. These particular lyrics are deliciously sarcastic and a warning to those who may have it twisted:
“Initiating slut mode; all space cadets on deck/ There's a calculator in my pocket got you all in check”.
“Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do” kinda says it all with the title, and absolutely reflects the frustration we’re all feeling right now. This song—this whole album—offers us a way to use those feelings and dance right through them to the other side.
“Dancing On My Own” is the pop anthem of our time for anyone who’s ever had their heart broken. It’s desperate, gut wrenching, earnest, and so resilient at the same time. Even though she’s “in the corner, watching you kiss her” and “not the girl you’re taking home”, she keeps dancing on her own and makes everyone else want to dance with her.
The next two tracks, “Indestructable” and “Time Machine” take us on a synth-dripped trip to another place, far away. They harness a frantic energy, converting it to a therapeutic, welcomed distraction. She fearlessly throws caution to the wind in one song, then regrets her actions in the next. Any sentiments of distress are overpowered by images of space and time travel combined with club-worthy beats and melodies, creating a euphoric effect.
There’s no choice but to stan each and every song on this album. Like each sip of the Joly trousseau, “Body Talk” is self-assured, bold and never loses you. The music and the wine both wear their heart on their sleeve. The wine hides nothing: what you see is what you get. There’s nothing there—nothing artificial—to cover up what’s underneath, and there’s something really liberating and honest about that.
Besides being tough, Robyn is also vulnerable, especially on “Hang With Me”. On “Call Your Girlfriend”, another relentlessly amazing song, she manages to be incredibly brazen and considerate in the same breath. “Body Talk” is as layered as the aromas and flavors in this wine.
The first half of this album is stunner after stunner. It doesn’t get much better. The second half expresses impatience with the status quo which couldn’t be more on point in our current collective state of isolation.
On “None of Dem,” she announces she’s “so bored with this town/ take me away from here.” She seeks a “new sound”, like many of us who yearn for new life beyond our quarantine setup.
“We Dance to the Beat” sounds like a dystopian dance party for robot hostages, not unlike the way society is reluctantly going through the motions and mandates while its leaders attempt to control widespread disaster. These lyrics feel like a direct response to certain imbeciles who hold office: “We dance to the beat of your brain not evolving fast enough/ We dance to the beat of raw talent wasted”.
“Body Talk” wraps up on an encouraging note. “In My Eyes” drops these words of wisdom: “Don't you know when nothing ever seems to make sense/ You put your dancing shoes on and do it again.” The closing track “Stars 4 Ever” sends a message of love that feels like it’s meant for this exact moment of distance: “I can be right there next to you/ No matter where in the world you are/ I got you right here next to me/ Forever connected through the stars”.
“Body Talk” is the healing album we could all use right now to dance through the pain, the stress, and the uncertainty. Together with a bottle of Domaine Joly’s Cotes du Jura trousseau, they present themselves in their purest forms, holding nothing back, embracing everything weird, funky, beautiful and true.
