Goddess of love, Goddess of dance.
Yes, here’s my review of Kylie’s new album, Aphrodite. Just in case you didn’t know, I’m a self-confessed Kylie fanboi so this may be a tad biassed!
The over-riding feeling that runs through listening to the album is fun, it just makes me want to throw my arms up in the air and dance down the street.
From the the very opening bars of All the Lovers Kylie makes it absolutely clear what the album is about. Her clear vocals soar from intimately close to the heights and back again.
Following on with Get out of my way, she brings in a toe-tapping beat which blends in perfectly. All the Lovers is obviously just the precursor to this foot-stomping, hand clapping tune.
The beat continues through to the fantastic Put your hands up (If you feel love), another track that makes you wasn’t to wave your arms and stamp your feet.
Closer, although continuing the beat, is a slower tune, building together the best elements of Kylie’s vocals with an electro synth feel and that ever present beat. Which prepares us perfectly for the slower, more thoughtful Everything is beautiful. Concentrating more on the story and harmonies which she’s rightly famous for.
The title track, Aphrodite, returns to the big beats of the earlier half of the album but uses a more spoken word style, which just flows well into the slow daqnce ballad that is Illusion, harmonies, synth and a slow beat give you time to catch your breath.
This breather is ideal to prepare you for the return to a poppy tune, Better than Today. This is very much a nod to Fever (always in my mind an under-rated album).
The dance track returns with Too Much (yes, another Kylie track called Too Much!) The beats just make you want to get back up and dance while the lyrics and tune are catchy – it’s an ideal club tune that I can see remixes galore of on dancefloors across the country.
The first few bars of Cupid Boy may mislead you into thinking that Ms Minogue’s decided to slow down again, but the techno-voice soundbox taking us into the chorus quickly puts paid to that one.
It seems however that a cherub’s not good enough for our Kylie as she continues the journey with Looking for an Angel. A track that has just the right balance of toe-tapping beats and a catchy singalong chorus. Unfortunately, as it’s in a higher pitch I can see this one being massacred whenever it’s played!
With an intro that sounds like something from Mario Kart I must admit that I was a bit concerned by Can’t Beat the Feeling. But then it started and I smiled. Reminding me of the best bits on Light Years this is another tune that just makes you want to dance and hug the person next to you!
I know I’m biased, but I’m really glad I’ve had the chance to listen to this album on NPR. I’m definitely buying it (although there’s no way I wouldn’t even if I didn’t love it!)
Basically, if you want an album to get ready for a night out to, this is it, if you want an album to make you smile, this is it. And if you just want to remember why you love Kylie, why you have fond memories of Light Years, Fever and X, and you want to find out why she’s still the ultimate pop princess then I’d suggest you get a copy too!
Image taken from Autumn Jones’ Blog
