Kylie Minogue: X
The Aussie pop pixie returns.
Also In The News
|
Steve McClaren's contract as England manager has been terminated by the Football Association after an emergency meeting this morning. |  |
Friday, 23, Nov 2007 12:55
Parlophone, out November 26th.
In a nutshell...
A very welcome return from one of pop's great mainstays.
What's it all about?
You'd be hard pressed to not recognise the sassy opening of glammed-up lead single 2 Hearts. And with no track lasting notably past the four minute mark, Kylie fans get pretty much what they've become used to over the years, enough time to get into a catchy pop track before being hit with the next.
However, alongside the poptastic numbers such as Wow and All I See, there are a few more adventurous and exploratory tracks. Nothing earth-shattering (and not always successful), but for someone who's got pop running through them like a stick of Blackpool rock, tracks such as Speakerphone and Nu-di-ty are more than just your average fare.
Who's it by?
Kylie really needs no introduction, rising to fame on Neighbours and following up with a pop career that has lasted some twenty years.
From her early bubblegum pop hits such as The Locomotion and Better The Devil You Know through to her more recent dancier tracks like Can't Get You Out Of My Head and I Believe In You she has managed to reinvent herself to keep up with - and even stay ahead of - the times.
X marks her first album of material since her greatest hits album Ultimate Kylie in 2004, in a career that doesn't look like it's about wind down any time soon.
As an example...
"Starlight shimmers everywhere/There's a certain something in the air/Can you feel what I feel in me?/It's in the air/Electricity." - The One
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Kylie's no stranger to the awards, winning best dance recording for Come Into My World in 2004 after being nominated for the same accolade a number of other times including for 2003's Love At First Sight. She's done it before and tracks like 2 Hearts could do it for her again.
What the others say
"X does a neat job of matching big hooks with forward-thinking production tricks. Despite a few years off the stage, Kylie is well up to speed with 21st century pop." - Amazon
"She's no innovator. She's providing the safe, superficial, silly soundtrack for little sisters to dress up to and have a bit of fun." - Telegraph
So is it any good?
Opener 2 Hearts is easily the strongest track on the album from the first listen, now this may be because it's benefited from extensive radio play, but none of the other tracks are as instantly catchy. That's not saying that any of the out-and-out pop numbers that are typically Kylie aren't good - despite not being as instantly memorable as earlier hits like Can't Get You Out Of My Head, tracks such as Like A Drug and The One wouldn't sound out of place on any of her other highly successful albums.
And that seems to be a problem for some other critics. I appreciate that this album was written while Kylie was convalescing after treatment for breast cancer, but I wasn't expecting an album that gives an insight into her very soul because of her illness, as some seemed to.
But I seem to be in a minority. Some reviewers have called this album "uncompelling" and lacking in engagement. But why would anyone want anything else from Kylie than feelgood pop to bounce around to? And she's shown that she can turn her hand to up-to-date stuff with a sense of humour, I don't think the more experimental tracks are to be taken too seriously, I certainly couldn't keep a straight face during Speakerphone with lyrics such as "drop your socks/grab your mini-boom box" and the chorus sounding like Allison Goldfrapp trying to sing Your Head Bone's Connected to Your Neck Bone.
X is a welcome return from a true pop princess, who's showing that she's certainly capable of giving potential usurpers to her throne a run for their money.
7/10
John Brunskill