Kylie Minogue is having quite the year and it seems her popularity is back to an all-time high. Ahead of the release of her sixteenth studio album ‘Tension’ today, Kylie has found herself back in the Top 10 in the UK for the first time in over a decade with her viral hit ‘Padam Padam’. The success of the track took the Pop Princess by surprise and it’s dominated the air waves across the world over the summer. On the back of that success, Kylie finally confirmed her long-rumoured Las Vegas residency, which sold-out in minutes and she’s added a slew of new dates. With new single ‘Tension’, another Top 20 hit for the singer, picking up steam, it seems that Kylie’s new album could be her most successful in years.
‘Tension’ is Kylie’s third studio album to be released under her deal with BMG following 2018’s Country-tinged ‘Golden’ and 2020’s dancefloor odyssey ‘Disco’ (she’s also released hits collection ‘Step Back in Time’ and live album ‘Infinite Disco’ too). On ‘Golden’ Kylie pushed herself out of her comfort zone for a collection of Country-pop songs, while ‘Disco’ provided the soundtrack to the pandemic as the singer returned to her pure pop roots. For ‘Tension’, Kylie is switching things up a bit. Lead single ‘Padam Padam’ is the definition of an ear-worm thanks to its memorable chorus and the title track steps into house music territory, giving Kylie one of her most infectious songs in years.
Fans expecting the rest of the album to stick to the sound of those two singles are going to be in for a surprise. A couple of the songs here – ‘One More Time’ and ‘Green Light’ – could have been part of the ‘Disco’ project. Both are fun, carefree dance-laden grooves with a throwback feel and they sit neatly next to the likes of ‘Magic’ and ‘Miss a Thing’. Through a handful of other tracks, there’s a definite 80s vibe. On ‘Things We Do For Love’, Kylie sings over a distinctively 80s beat that threatens to veer off into a synth-pop explosion and ‘You Still Get Me High’ has the kind of dramatic instrumentation that Toto would be proud of; the song also allows Kylie to really utilise that voice of hers.
‘Hold On To Now’, which Kylie debuted live at BBC Radio 2 in Hyde Park last weekend, is in the same vein as ‘All the Lovers’ and ‘Into the Blue’. It feels like a shimmering electro update of those songs and its Kylie in her comfort zone. Coming after ‘Padam Padam’, it’s a sharp turn back to the familiar but it’s a song I’m sure is going to be a single during this album’s campaign. ‘Vegas High’, which was released as a snippet when Kylie announced her Las Vegas shows, is less about the city of sin and more about hitting a moment of extreme pleasure. It taps into the saucier side of Kylie’s persona on this record and I think it would be a good choice for a future single.
There are a couple of mis-steps on the 11-track album. While there are no total skips on the record, the inclusion of the underwhelming Oliver Heldens collaboration ’10 Out of 10’, which wasn’t a hit, feels a bit out of place. The best you can say about it is that it’s not awful. The other track on the record that jars is ‘Hands’, a song that sounds very similar to Doja Cat’s ‘Say So’ and is an R&B talk-rap-sing concoction. For me, it doesn’t really fit on the record and it’s not up to the standard of the rest of the record.
The album comes to a close with ‘Story’, an uptempo pop gem that marries the best of Kylie’s signature sound with the 80s vibe that runs through much of the record. It’s an uplifting end to an album that whizzes by in a rush of pure pop excitement and is over far too soon. The Deluxe Edition of the album features another three tracks but those weren’t provided ahead of release so I can’t talk about them in this review.
With ‘Tension’ Kylie is moving into what could be her most successful era in well over a decade. Public sentiment towards the singer seems to be at an all-time high and Kylie has once again proven that you shouldn’t ever count her out. What she’s achieved with her music this year is remarkable, especially given that fans had long given up hope that Kylie would bother the Top 10 again in her career. Launching ‘Tension’ off the back of two Top 20 hits gives Kylie a strong foundation to clinch another number one record, and she could potentially have her best-selling album since ‘Aphrodite’ on her hands. While I would have liked the album to take more risks like the singles have, ‘Tension’ is a fun pop record that reinforces Kylie as a unique force in pop music.
Track listing: 1. Padam Padam 2. Hold on to Now 3. Things We Do For Love 4. Tension 5. One More Time 6. You Still Get Me High 7. Hands 8. Green Light 9. Vegas High 10. 10 Out of 10 11. Story Record label: BMG Release date: 22nd September 2023 Buy ‘Tension’ now
This article contains an affiliate link. Purchases through this link may result in us earning a commission.
