Throughout his five-decade career, Todd Rundgren has found his soulmate in the sound of the radio. Whether copying it verbatim (as on his 1976 covers album Faithful) or reshaping it in his own image (from his own numerous classic rock staples to his production on Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell), Rundgren managed to age gracefully by adapting constantly. But following the “Angry Birds” references and EDM squelches of his previous solo releases (seriously), time seemed like it was catching up with him. Thankfully, the first taste from his upcoming White Knight takes a more tasteful approach to keeping with the times.
On “That Could Have Been Me,” Rundgren hands the microphone to Robyn, an artist who’s inspired many of pop music’s most memorable recent comebacks, from Carly Rae Jepsen’s E•MO•TION to Lorde’s “Green Light.” But unlike those ecstatic, neon-lit anthems, “That Could Have Been Me” is a smooth serenade, a late night R&B throwback that wouldn’t sound out of place on an early 2000s Mariah Carey album. While many of Robyn’s post-Body Talk collabs have found her stretching out and shaking things up, here she plays it straight. With his sleepy synths and ghostly harmonies, Rundgren cozily complements her tale of loneliness. Together, two visionaries from different generations sound content to meet somewhere in the middle, finding inspiration in each other’s comfort zones.
