Kylie - Kiss Me Once

As sure as night follows day, Aussie popster Kylie Minogue will continue to release an album every few years – quite possibly until the end of time. An inoffensive artist who regularly strikes gold with straight-up dance pop anthems (go on, bet you can name five Kylie choons), Minogue has been known to steer into electro territory of late; having teamed up with Scot beatmaker Calvin Harris for 2007’s X and electro producer Stuart Price for its minxy 2010 follow-up, Aphrodite.

So imagine this scribe’s delight to learn that in the run-up to latest release Kiss Me Once, the diminutive star had signed up with rap overlord Jay-Z’s Roc Nation management company, and made acquaintance with one Mr. Pharrell Williams, who produces a track here. The evidence all leads, ladies and gents, to one crucial question: Are we about to usher in the age of hip hop Kylie?

Sadly, nay. Though the album has its moments, the formula doesn’t deviate from classic Kylie: we’re in sugary dance pop territory from start to end. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing – it’s just that Kiss Me Once isn’t an overly memorable collection of sugary dance pop tunes.

There’s a great start in the form of current single ‘Into The Blue’; a positivity-filled, synthy dancefloor filler. “I ain’t waiting for no miracle”, Kylie gushes, “Tonight I’m running free.” However, despite the aforementioned Pharrell production on ‘I Was Gonna Cancel’, the track falls short, as does ‘Million Miles’ a mediocre dance number. We’re somewhat back on form with ‘Sexy Love’; all bubblegum pop and funky bass, before things take a turn for the saucy on ‘Sexercize’ (yep, really), which toys with some dirty dubstep undertones, though its clichéd ‘sexy gym’ lyrics feel forced: “Let me see you sexercize / I wanna see you beat all your best times / Feel the burn / Bounce bounce bounce”. Feel the burn? Kyles, you are cordially invited along to our weekly spinning class – please let us know how randy you feel after that sweaty ordeal.

Ultimately, all too often Kiss Me Once feels samey – step forward ‘If Only’, ‘Feels So Good’ ‘and gooey Enrique Iglesias duet ‘Beautiful’. Though album highlight ‘Les Sex’ makes up for the filler somewhat with its edgier Santigold vibe, in all, this latest collection brings nothing new or exciting to the Kylie-verse.