7. Honey / Robyn

The D Man is no expert in the European club scene.  But I have a thriving imagination.  So I'm not going out on a limb by stating this: nothing radiated on the dance floor quite like Honey, easily the best pure pop album of 2018.  After an eight-year absence from the Swedish pop star, and her generally private persona lending an additional air of mystery and anticipation, Honey was a welcome respite from the everyday, and a sophisticated response to the current glut of monotonous or overproduced club jams.

Forty minutes long, Honey is a lean pop opus, stripped of filler and packed with desire, heartache, and groove.  Though Robyn's house-influenced synth pop is spacey and understated, it is inclusive, inviting, and ultimately invigorating.  Highlights include the comeback single "Missing U," the ridiculously sensuous "Honey," the synth and string "Because It's in the Music," the nocturnal pleading "Baby Forgive Me," and the redemptive kiss-off "Ever Again."

Robyn taps into human emotion, urgent and primal, and casts a spell with the simple euphoria of pitch-perfect dance music.