★★★★ | Kylie, Kiss Me Once
The shimmering pop queen is back with a confident new update to her sound, she’s also feeling sexy and she wants you to know it!
INTO THE BLUE:
After a year of chucking out some promo singles, Kylie is back to business good and proper, with the lead single from Kiss Me Once. An epic stringed euphoric song in the same vein as All The Lovers and one the few “Kylie” songs on the album. ★★★
MILLION MILES:
Guitar intro alert! Don’t panic about 13 seconds later along comes the big throbbing beat to reassure you everything is going to be OK. A dance-pop guitar pop infused banger that wouldn’t sound out of place on the “Fever” / “Light Years” album. A song about feeling detached from any sexual activity and enjoying it! ★★★★
I WAS GONNA CANCEL:
Also known as that Pharrell produced song, and you can tell! His trademark cowbell sound signature funky basslines are all in place, the addition of some electro beats, a ghostly choir that pops up elevates the song and like much of the album it rattles along at a fair pace, so it doesn’t out stay its welcome. ★★★
SEXY LOVE:
This is another song that starts off very Kylie, and it really wouldn’t sound out of place on the “Fever” album, it also wouldn’t sound out of place on Daft Punks “Random Access Memories”. It’s fun, it’s frothy, it’s flirty and it’s precisely the kind of dance-pop that Kylie does so well. ★★★★
SEXERCISE:
Sound the co-written by Sia Klaxon. An interesting track for both Kylie and Sia, a sexual innuendo laden offering that starts off with some lovely airy strings and then comes in the chunky dub-step flecked bassline. It’s perfectly matched with the whole tone of the lyrics. It IS going to divide a lot of her long term fans, you will either love it or hate it. I love it! ★★★★
FEELS SO GOOD:
A cover of the little known song Indiana by Tom Aspaul and produced by the uber trendy MNEK (who has just score a Top 5 hit with his latest single) It just seems like it belongs to Kylie, it’s perfect for her, again it’s that kind of fluttering breathless dance-pop that she does so well, and it’s a nice juxtaposition to the down and dirty affair of the previous track. An album highlight. ★★★★
IF ONLY:
Don’t panic your CD / Download isn’t warped! This a stuttering beat infused electro “ballad” It’s big sounding and the marching beat with futuristic synths come together to make something pretty unique and addictve. The chorus is huge btw, it’s the song I have been singing most after listening. ★★★★
LES SEX:
Starting off with some clockwork style beats (that remain throughout the track), it bursts into life a few seconds later and it doesn’t stop! It’s the only real cheeky wink to camp Kylie, and it feels like a very modern successor to her camp classic Your Disco Needs You. Weird electro-frog noises, big giant electro riffs, processed snatches of vocals, it’s all a bit bonkers really. It is a song that was made to be performed live and will probably be one of the highlights of her upcoming tour. ★★★
KISS ME ONCE:
The album’s title track is once again co-written by Sia, in fact after the very first sentence and after verse you will want to burst into a quick chant of “Tiataniummmmmm” This is properly brilliant. It sounds like a classic “SAW” produced track but with very modern bells and whistles attached, and it’s probably the most “Kylie” song on the whole album. And after all the flirty sex infused songs it’s nice to have a song about love conquering all. ★★★★★
BEAUTIFUL
Also known as the duet with Enrique Iglesias, and considering he is about to have a massive Top 5 hit with his new single, it’s perfect timing. It’s very electronic and the chorus is undeniably huge and it literally erupts out of nowhere, but the robotic vocodered vocals of the verses are really grating. It’s a very bold move and it definitely stands out and as a future single it may be just the song to get Kylie noticed again. Again it’s going to divide a lot of people. ★★★
FINE:
Saving the best for last? This ain’t no sad ballad album closer! It’s a nice 90’s house influenced solid dance-pop banger, the surprise stuttering looped male vocals as found on many of the biggest dance hits of the past year really help give this a very modern feel and it’s a great ending to the album. ★★★★★
Overall this is perhaps the best Kylie album of her career, it’s modern without sounding try-hard and she seems refreshed and she sounds like she is absolutely loving singing it. It’s a great update to her “sound” and has a high replay factor, which is great since the sunny days are a coming!
Into the Blue is out now to buy and “Kiss Me Once” is released next week March 17th and comes in a standard edition and deluxe edition.
Buy Into the Blue here
Order Kiss Me Once From iTunes here or from Amazon here
