The Observer, December 7, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 13
Minogue's latest proves catchy, but lets down long-time fans
While a distant memory in the minds of Americans since her 1987 hit cover "Locomotion," Kylie Minogue came back strong to the United States with her 2001 release, Fever. Despite remaining popular around the world, Minogue has had problems in America, after her 2003 followup Body Language didn't fare well. While she can prove herself as the reigning queen of dance-pop, can she break through to American audiences for the third time? Her tenth album, X, marks a personal victory for Minogue, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. After receiving a clean bill of health, the process of choosing from 40 recorded tracks began.
The lead single, "2 Hearts," is campy cabaret pop that strays from Minogue's current dance endeavors. Organic drums and piano lines make up a majority of the instrumentation over Minogue's typical love-struck lyrics. The dark club track, "Like a Drug," quickly sets the tone for the album and writes off "2 Hearts" as a one-off style that the listener won't expect to hear again. While nothing revolutionary happens on "Like a Drug," it welcomes a return to Minogue's sex-driven tales of finding love in the club. One of the strongest tracks off X is the Bloodshy & Avant-produced "Speakerphone." Relying heavily on effects and off-beat instrumentation, the highly-processed track puts her at the forefront of synthesized style and flair. "Hearts Beat Rock" is a sliced-up pop tune that, while endearing, lacks any memorable hook. Luckily, "The One" gets out of this rut and creates a feeling last experienced on Fever's "Love at First Sight." The ending verses of "The One" sum up what is often missed in the sex-and-neon-lights façade of Minogue's music. There's an innocence of falling blissfully in love, and there's something undeniably sweet about the way she portrays it.
The album starts to really falter at "No More Rain," which feels dated and forgettable. With some tracks being leaked early on the internet by the likes of Scottish DJ and collaborator Mylo, it's disheartening to hear the inclusion of the boring "No More Rain" over much better tracks that didn't make the cut for X. The mellowed-out "All I See" is a sweet little song, but it doesn't feel like Minogue at all. Unfortunately, it sounds like a filler track for a 1998 Aaliyah album, and really detracts from X's overall worth. The over-the-top "Nu-di-ty," is lyrically idiotic and embarrassing for the 39-year-old chanteuse. However, the production (coincidentally by Bloodshy & Avant again) makes this track intense and undeniably catchy, with big bass and vocoder-heavy vocals. The closer, "Cosmic," is one of the strongest on the album, marking a genuinely beautiful closer.
It is a shame that Minogue's personality is lacking so much from X, especially given her life lately. While it was believable before to think of Minogue's romantic rendezvous in the club circuit, it isn't this time around. However, the production and instrumentation throughout is fantastic (barring a few weak spots), and much better than her last release, Body Language. With Minogue credited on nearly every track, the only disappointment is the feeling that she phoned in the lyrics and meaning. Of course, this doesn't matter much the mainstream market, and with precision-crafted dance-pop tunes in her arsenal, she has a great chance to break back into the United States. However, Minogue has let down her fans, as they might have expected more this time around (and rightfully so).
