Album Assessment: Kylie Minogue ~ Aphrodite

There's just something about Kylie. She exudes a warmth and radiance that is somehow missing in Madonna. She has a cheekiness and fun loving side that is absent in G'Gah. And she continues to put out solid pop-dance tunes with heart that are successful 22 years after she first made it big - something missing in a lot of her peers at the time (Belinda Carlisle, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany et al...) People sometimes have mixed feelings about her output, but often that is because they love her so much. It seems though that the world has been holding it's collective breath for Aphrodite as if it is something magical and mystical, some solution to the gloom of global warming and dire financial warnings. Well now the world can breathe (I know you find it hard, but baby breathe) because wonderous things have occured and thy name is Aphrodite...


APHRODITE REVIEW: Approximately 7 weeks ago, my world stopped for the new Kylie single. All The Lovers was a seemingly perfect comeback vehicle. Light, airy, ethereal and sumptuously gorgeous, it was a delightful pop track that didn't try to be the new anything, it just was. The video (a positively tasteful orgy of people smooching each other, building a tower of lovers under Kylie - like True Blood season 2 but less debauched) was glorious. And it makes a fine lead off track to the most hotly anticipated album of the year. Get Outta My Way is a rather brilliant choice for second single as it is instantly a more punchy, throbbing number with an ever so memorable chorus. It doesn't so much ingratiate itself with you, more sweeps you off your feet and carries you along with it's beat. It's completely worthy and recognisable as a second single in the same way Wow was from X...

Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love) is another mighty singles contender. It builds this complementary walls of sound, layering them over and over each other until you a whipped into a disco frenzy. Plus (ref: JLS Everybody In Love; Whitney Million Dollar Bill), I really do like songs that encourage you to flap your arms around like a loon on loon tablets at loon camp. It's so freeing and wonderful to do :) Closer is a more robotic sounding song, possibly sampling old video game sounds (Simon Curtis' robot army beckons...) It's very minimalistic, like a tide that ebbs and flows, it builds and retracts through an effortless club vibe that essentially powers the tune. Then it moves onto the Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane) track, Everything is Beautiful - and it really feels that way after listening to this non-ballad ballad. It's definitely a slower tempo than what has preceeded it, but has beautiful lyrics (as XO points out in his ever so excellent review) and makes you feel quite wonderful, shimmering positivity from start to finish.

The title track (co-written by my beloved Nerina Pallot, whom you can also hear in the backing track) is pure killer. I would absolutely pick it as a single, though I'm not sure others would. There are possible references to the perceived failure of X, a chorus full of confidence, attitude and pep, and this harder edged vibe to it thanks to the drums and handclaps. It's one of the most powerful songs on the album in terms of delivery and so far gets better with each listen. Much like Gabriella's On A Mission, I suspect this will be my new power walk to work anthem for the summer :P It's ironic that Illusion is the middle track of the album - it feels a bit transitional, doesn't quite match the screamingly high quality of what has preceded it (or that which follows). It has a pretty melody but suffers betwixt stronger material. Better Than Today brings the standard back up though - another Nerina track, it reminds me a little bit of what the Scissor Sisters did with their cover of All The Lovers. It's a little bit Scissor Sisters via Dolly Parton, screamingly upbeat, cheerful and sunny. Kylie previewed this track back in New York and I've been dying to hear the studio version ever since. I'm not disappointed. Next is the track that Jake Shears said is the worst track on the album - his co-write of Too Much. I wouldn't agree with that, it's a solid club banger that will no doubt produce some insane remixes at some point. A tad too rave-esque for me, but still eminently enjoyable...

And so to the final 3 tracks. Cupid Boy is another great highlight. It's a tune that seems custom made for the summer. Kylie does her santa baby sexy here and it all works quite well because she reigns it in just the appropriate amount to stop it becoming a parody of itself. Looking For An Angel is quite lovely and reaffirms this album's mission to make you feel good, which is perhaps what people were looking for within X. There's a slightly retro feel to it and it reminds me muchly of a Madonna Confessions era track, though I can't put my finger on it right now. Not to worry, it's still a fun pop-dance number. And then (boohoo) the album finishes with Can't Beat The Feeling. It brings the album's loose themes to a full circle closure as she picks up on the wonder of love from All The Lovers - mainly that it's nice to be in love and to celebrate what two people can find within each other. And it could absolutely be a single, ending of the album campaign nicely, just as Light Years should have done in the UK ten years ago.

Final thoughts: This is my favourite Kylie album since Light Years and potentially (I will give it a bit more time) putting it in my top 3 Kylie albums of all time. I know a lot of people prefer Fever (and I did enjoy that too) but LY was totally kitsch and fun, and I think Aphrodite is somewhere between that vibe and the more dance oriented album that followed it. Like Light Years, I think it should just whip out the singles bam bam bam (there were 4 tracks between June and December 2000 released in the UK) and then have a mighty big tour to satiate the masses. and playing every song from Aphrodite would feel quite wonderful as it goes...
Potential singles: All The Lovers (June); Get Outta My Way (Aug); Put Your Hands Up (Oct); Aphrodite (Dec); Can't Beat The Feeling (Mar)...