Pick of the week: Kylie Minogue ‘X’
The Star, Canada: 3 out of 4 stars
Madonna cued it all up, but it was arguably Kylie Minogue and the utterly overwhelming 2001 single “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” who finally browbeat the crustiest arbiters of pop-music taste into acknowledging the magic that can ensue when a prime pop tart meets the top-tier production she deserves.
Gwen Stefani, Beyoncé, Kelly Clarkson, Annie … hell, even Justin Timberlake – you think they’d have gotten half the easy rides they’ve been given if Kylie hadn’t forced the (still mostly male) critical intelligentsia to collectively admit it digs the music as much as it does the videos? Don’t underestimate this gal. She’s been toying with our ideals since she hooked up with Nick Cave, and by 2003’s Body Language even tech-house ubermensch Michael Mayer was covering “Slow.”
Coming 10 albums, 20 years and one successful trouncing of breast cancer on from the ghastly “Locomotion” cover that transformed her from soap star to pop star, X should present Minogue with a grand opportunity to do whatever the hell she wants, maybe even take some risks. And there’s a hint of that here: X is as eclectic and modern as contemporary pop gets, swinging enjoyably from lascivious glam (”2 Hearts”) to sighing, slapping electro-funk (”Like a Drug”) to high-tech R&B (”All I See,” “Nu-di-ty”) to frilly gay club fodder (”The One”) on a brisk path to the inevitable, album-closing “I succumb” ballad, “Cosmic.” Elder sister Madonna, too, gets a fond nod in the “Holiday”-esque disco bop of “No More Rain.”
What we don’t get enough of, though, is much in the way of Minogue’s personality. After all this time, she’s still a blank slate. Infinitely likeable, possessed of good taste and always adaptable to au courant styles, yes, but after 20 years, we still have little idea of the real voice or the real person behind the pinup crush. Maybe it’s time for Kylie, the artist, to flex her muscles. Maybe. Top track: “Like a Drug.” Sex sells, Berlin style.
Ben Rayner
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