Review: Kylie Minogue – Tension II (BMG)
★★★★☆
Sequel albums are rare, yet Kylie justifies her decision to return to the studio with Tension II – an intense nine-song blast of new material to sit alongside four recent collaborations
Although Tension II inhabits the same dancefloor space as its predecessor, its title has led to suspicions that its nine new songs are simply offcuts, which would usually be packaged in a deluxe edition of Tension, rather than claiming this is a wholly separate album.
Fear not. These nine new bangers only last a total of 25 minutes but, as fizzing lead single Lights Camera Action showed, they are absolutely worthy of Full Kylie billing.
The only padding is via the four existing collabs at the end to bulk out the running time. With apologies to Bebe Rexha, Sia and the frankly rotten Orville Peck, only The Blessed Madonna’s magnificently murky Edge Of Saturday Night merits its place alongside the similarly lascivious up-all-night Hello’s tease of “You and I make a good mistake.”
Lights Camera Action, That’s It
Main album closer Shoulda Left Ya is the only song approaching a ballad, its “Phone lights on” epic feel belying that it only lasts two minutes 20 seconds. Taboo’s intro is cheekily similar to Madonna’s Hung Up, setting the mood for Kylie’s own confessions on a dancefloor.
Her self-described “electric energy” carries on into the bleepy Someone For Me, before the relatively epic revenge anthem Good As Gone’s chorus is so infectious that it bears enough repeating to become the only song to run past three minutes.
Regular Kylie producers Stannard & Blackwell, TMS, Steve Mac and Padam Padam’s Lostboy are involved, but first-time helpers Jenn Decilveo and Vaughn Oliver helm the biggest surprise: Diamonds, which features a rare rap from Minogue, its appropriately indestructible riff helping to carry her through such an innovation.
Oliver – who worked on the recent album by Kylie’s friend Jake Shears – also produces the most traditional-sounding bop here. It’s strange that Minogue hasn’t had a song called Dance To The Music in her 37-year career before. Now it’s here, it’s as blissful as you would hope, a nostalgic 70s-tinged cooldown after the preceding intensity.
The last time Kylie only had a 13-month gap between albums was from Light Years to Fever in 2000-01, when she exploded back for her second imperial phase.
Having enjoyed trying out other genres like country (Golden), there seems to be no stopping Minogue again now that she’s back centre stage on the dancefloor. It still suits her perfectly: just try dislodging Kiss Bang Bang’s chorus once it’s strutted into your head.
At this rate, don’t be surprised if Kylie goes for the hat-trick by the time her tour kicks off next spring.
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