It’s been two years since 2018’s triumphant ‘Golden’ album, one since her record-breaking Glastonbury Legends slot and Greatest Hits album and now the Goddess of Pop returns with her 15th studio album, ‘DISCO’.
Recording started in 2019, when Covid wasn’t a word most of us had ever heard and continued through lockdown in Spring 2020. Kylie even had to learn engineering skills and set up a make-shift home studio to nail those vocals.
In July, she surprised us all with lead single ‘Say Something’ – a glorious ethereal, mid-80s leaning epic that seamlessly changes tack two thirds through with a ‘love is love’ refrain that connected to so many in these tough times. For fans questioning the lack of disco influences, they didn’t have to wait long as the wistful ‘Magic’ brought an abundance of 70s vibes layered with Kylie’s pop sensibilities. It is a little by-numbers but an ear-worm nonetheless with her vocals soaring high in the infectious chorus.
Friday saw the release of the album with the standard version giving us 12 tracks and kicking off with the aforementioned ‘Magic’ to set the scene. Then comes the double hit of two of the strongest songs on the album; ‘Miss a Thing’ and ‘Real Groove’. The former tells us to dance before slinky, smooth disco beats slide in as it builds to the strings in the chorus. Just bliss. Real Groove (see live video above) is another contemporary slice of disco with a scoop of R&B for good measure. It could easily sit on Dua Lipa’s massive ‘Future Nostalgia’ album.
The tempo is turned to the full on the explosive ‘Supernova’ and the ABBAesque ‘Last Chance’, whilst Dance Floor Darling slows things a little for a track that would be perfect for an 80s movie prom scene. ‘I Love It’ blends classic disco with horns to give us a latin vibe and takes me straight to the ‘Loveboat’ section of the ‘X2008’ tour.
For fans of Kylie’s out-and-out brand of joyous pop (think ‘Wow’, ‘Love at First Sight’ and ‘Get Outta My Way’) this album will thrill no end. As with ‘Impossible Princess’ in 1998 and 2018’s ‘Golden’, Kylie has had a hand in writing every song on ‘DISCO’. This time around it’s lyrically a mix of looking out to the cosmos and taking things to the dance floor. My only critique is that some of the songs feel a bit too on-the-nose in their homage to the 70s and I would have liked Kylie to experiment a bit more with modernising.
Kylie described the album as a galactic disco and it will certainly beam you up to a happier place of escapism in this crazy year.
Track list: 1. Magic 2. Miss a Thing 3. Real Groove 4. Monday Blues 5. Supernova 6. Say Something 7. Last Chance 8. I Love It 9. Where Does the DJ Go? 10. Dance Floor Darling 11. Unstoppable 12. Celebrate You Record label: BMG Release date: 6th November 2020 Buy ‘DISCO.’
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