No disrespect to busy, buzzy breakup numbers, but sometimes empty should sound empty — like it does in "Be Mine!", comeback single-slash-total reinvention of former Swedish R&B (!) thrush Robyn. The song, from Robyn (Konichiwa), is a study in space and contrast: A single sawing cello cuts the sugar of Robyn's voice, the mix of sad and sweet like salt in a soda. For 10 full measures that's all there is, two simple sounds and a great cavernous silence. When the drums finally do come in, they're little more than sonic hiccups, tiny stuttering blips that barely register at all. Instead of getting bigger on the chorus the song simply gets brighter, kicking the string section up an octave while Robyn cries, "You never were, and you never will be mine!" It's like the barren thump of "Where Did Our Love Go?" or the marvelous overlooked singles from British girl-group Sugababes — glittering evidence of how little you need to make an intoxicating pop song. Because when you're this heartbroken, who has time to fuss with decorations?

Hear it — after a Zork-like degree of navigation — at www.robyn.com.