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Pitchfork: Tension


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"Kylie Minogue’s most relaxed album in years is a compendium of all the sounds she’s best known for: confectionary synth-pop, breezy Euro house, and propulsive EDM."

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 “Padam Padam” embodies a looseness of concept that slightly conflicts with the title of Minogue’s 16th album, Tension. It is the most relaxed of her recent LPs and by far the best, a return to form that privileges the emotional immediacy and kinetic sensation that’s defined the best of her music for years.

Minogue forayed into concept albums with 2018’s countrified Golden and 2020’s DISCO, which yielded a few undeniable gems but failed overall for the simple reason that they didn’t sound quite like Kylie. In the process of accommodating mirrorballs and cowboy hats, the singer sacrificed a degree of spontaneity, resulting in a self-conscious sound at odds with her self-possessed spirit.

“Vegas High” and “10 Out of 10” are the only tracks that register as flops: the former feels like an unambiguous advertisement for her forthcoming Vegas residency, while the latter is far too bloodless and vanilla to remotely merit its watered-down ballroom chorus. At its best, Kylie’s music possesses an intense physicality; energizing in a way that bypasses the head and appeals directly to the heart and body. This is also true of the best of Tension, and when the romantic urgency of her lyrics and the bracing runner’s high of her music commingle it reminds you that what is most glamorous and definitive about the singer is not only her sustained self-belief but her capacity for making it felt.

Full review and previous scores here.

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Anderson123

I only listened to Vegas High last week when it leaked and they call it a flop? :flop: But this is Pitchfork we're talking about so doesn't matter lol.

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