Kylie Minogue is is about to release her eleventh studio album, which is a crazy figure for most artists to achieve in the music industry, but like a fine wine she only seems to get better with age.
Most artists who have been around for such a length of time seem to end up rehashing their previous work in a new form, growing staler by the minute. The best artists however, manage to work with fresh collaborators, reinvent themselves by keeping on top of musical trends without pandering to them, and maintain a great rapport with their fans. Kylie has done all of these things, and well.
Although some critics panned her previous release X due to her scattered selection of genres, Aphrodite is a fantastic return to what she knows best – dance music.
She has recruited some of the best crossover talent to make her way back onto our dancefloors with a bang, (big names like Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters and Calvin Harris, as well as behind-the-scenes people like Sebastian Ingrosso, and Pascal Gabriel) have tailored their writing efforts to Kylie’s strengths. Executive producer of the Aphrodite project is the extremely talented Stuart Price, who gives the record a real sense of purpose.
“Dance/It’s all I wanna do,” Kylie Minogue tells us on the opening track All the Lovers, and from that moment on, she never leaves the club. Her next single release Get Outta My Way should destroy every dancefloor between here and the furthest reaches of the universe.
The Nervo twins (who co-wrote David Guetta and Kelly Rowland’s When Love Takes Over) contribute the track Put Your Hands Up, which is an ecstatic ode to love. Contrasting that track, the Tim Rice-Oxley-written (Keane) number Everything Is Beautiful is probably the mellowest thing here, but necessary after the onslaught of the opening numbers.
Concluding the album is Can’t Beat the Feeling, which is probably my favourite track of all. The opening of it sounds like something I would find from a classic Genesis/Megadrive game, but then it suddenly transforms into a funky, pulsating, killer track.
Kylie and her team have crafted an album that’s both full of songs that could potentially be chart toppers, but maintaining itself as a collection that can blend together well. As an album, it’s probably one of her best.
01. All The Lovers (03:19) *
02. Get Outta My Way (03:38) *
03. Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love) (03:36) *
04. Closer (03:08)
05. Everything Is Beautiful (03:25)
06. Aphrodite (03:44)
07. Illusion (03:21)
08. Better Than Today ( 03:24)
09. Too Much (03:15)
10. Cupid Boy (04:25)
11. Looking For An Angel (03:49)
12. Can’t Beat The Feeling (04:09) *
—————–
02. Kylie Minogue – Get Outta My Way (03:38) *
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
03. Kylie Minogue – Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love) (03:36) *
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
12. Kylie Minogue – Can’t Beat The Feeling (04:09) *
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.