Kylie Minogue had somewhat of a resurgence in 2023 thanks to her viral hit ‘Padam Padam’. The song became her first Top 10 hit for years and it created a surge in interest for her not just in the UK but across the world. Off the back of that song, Kylie announced her first Las Vegas residency and released her sixteenth studio album ‘Tension’, adding another UK number one album to her impressive tally. Oddly, the album didn’t go on to be a big seller, falling well below the sales of 2020’s pandemic-released ‘Disco’ and 2018’s divisive Country/pop record ‘Golden’. Fans were quick to take to social media to blame the Vegas residency for derailing the album’s promotion, and it felt like the record disappeared pretty much as soon as it came out.
A little over a year on from ‘Tension’ and Kylie is pushing forward with new album ‘Tension II’, a sequel to last year’s release. The new album release comes in the midst of a chaotic year musically for Kylie, who has been firing out collaborations left, right and centre. ‘My Oh My’ featuring Bebe Rexha & Tove Lo was clearly meant to be the lead single from ‘Tension II’ but the song stalled at number 63. The TikTok-aimed pop song clocks in at three minutes and one second, and fans were quick to point out its similarities to Kylie’s iconic hit “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” and her 2023 smash ‘Padam Padam’. ‘Dance Alone’ with Sia, ‘Midnight Ride’ with Orville Peck & Diplo, and ‘Edge of Saturday Night’ with The Blessed Madonna have all failed to make a chart impact too.
‘Tension II’ features all of the collaborations tacked on to the end (noticeably different from the vinyl tracklisting) and the digital and CD versions now kick off with ‘proper’ lead single ‘Lights Camera Action’. To date that song has only managed to reach 59 in the charts and it confirms to this reviewer that Team Kylie aren’t ready to stop chasing the success of ‘Padam Padam’ or the TikTok trend just yet. The song isn’t terrible but it’s not going to bother upper reaches of any Kylie fan’s Top 10 tracks in years to come.
Putting aside the four collaborations and ‘Lights Camera Action’, ‘Tension II’ features around 20 minutes of new music across 8 tracks. Across those tracks, it’s a mish-mash of songs that sound like they’ve been left over from ‘Disco’ and ‘Tension’. ‘Taboo’ sounds like a distant cousin to ABBA (or more specifically Madonna’s sampling of ABBA’s ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’ on her hit ‘Hung Up’) and features a 70s sounding disco backing track.
It’s not the only song that sounds like a ‘Disco’ reject – ‘Someone For Me’, ‘Good As Gone’, ‘Diamonds’ and ‘Dance to the Music’ are in a similar vein and would have worked well on the disco project. The frustration isn’t that the songs are bad, it’s that they’re just completely unremarkable. We’ve heard this from Kylie before and it’s disappointing to hear her retreading old ground. Of the bunch ‘Someone For Me’ is probably the best, with Kylie sounding very computerised on the verses and a disco house beat providing the backing.
The pulsating ‘Kiss Bang Bang’ and electro-pop number ‘Hello’ both sound like variations of ‘Padam Padam’, offering nothing new for fans. The final of the new songs – ‘Should Left Ya’ – reverts back to the 80s sound that ‘Tension’ straddled when it wasn’t firing out bangers like ‘Padam Padam’ and ‘Tension’.
As a lifelong Kylie fan, ‘Tension II’ is a disappointment. This doesn’t feel like a cohesive album that was properly thought out. It feels like a cash-in opportunity to extend the life of ‘Tension’ ahead of Kylie’s world tour in 2025. I’ve been there for every phase of Kylie’s career, often defending her when others haven’t, but it’s hard to find much to praise about ‘Tension II’. The best I can say is that it’s not as bad as ‘Golden’, but it’s not far off. Kylie is one of the greatest pop stars in the world, she shouldn’t be trying to chase viral trends because she’s capable of so much better than this.
Track list: 1. Lights Camera Action 2. Taboo 3. Someone For Me 4. Good As Gone 5. Kiss Bang Bang 6. Diamonds 7. Hello 8. Dance to the Music 9. Shoulda Left Ya 10. Edge of Saturday Night (with The Blessed Madonna) 11. My Oh My (with Bebe Rexha & Tove Lo) 12. Midnight Ride (with Orville Peck & Diplo) 13. Dance Alone (with Sia) Record label: BMG Release date: 18th October 2024
