Tension is always in the air when settling into a new release from a major pop icon. Those former throws of Can’t Get You Out of My Head are, well, still rattling around in the minds of millions. Rightly so. Kylie Minogue and the trajectory she was fortunate enough to experience paved the way for some exceptional records down the way – and a neat inclusion on a Nick Cave track before it. But Tension, her latest release and an excuse for Danii Minogue to re-release her best-of compilation to confuse the elderly and trick the short-sighted is not the best Minogue has offered her listeners. It is no better than Disco, an all-but-forgotten pandemic release with as much cultural impact as her ill-fated Christmas record, aptly titled Kylie Christmas.
Ever so slightly darker in tone on Padam Padam, Minogue’s latest album gets off to a solid and steady start. It is more than can be said for her contemporaries and despite the flow and glow featured on her album cover, the gloomy club mixture featured on this opener is a bit of a shock. A nice one, but not a lasting one. It comes and goes, its two-and-a-half minutes up before they truly begin. On it goes to Hold On To Now, another middle-of-the-road feature. Minogue is unfortunately well-versed in those now. Generic synth pop which feels better suited to a compilation uploaded to YouTube to avoid royalty-free copyright claims than it does anything particular to Minogue. It is far too vague an attempt – it does not have the stamp of unique quality to it.
Things We Do For Love maintains the steady and acceptable expectations of Tension, which can never find the effort to elevate itself any further. But before you know it, the title track has come into the fold and certainly gives it a go. File Minogue next to Dua Lipa and above Ava Max. That is where her music is taking her now and although it sounds thoroughly behind the curve and below par, there is a singular, brief moment of quality to be found in this borderline essential track from Minogue. One good track does not bring the rest of these tracks to a new standard, unfortunately. The rest is still the plodding tour through the standards of synthpop which flirts with but never commits to house stylings. Tension finds itself in a situationship with risky genres.
Risk would elevate Tension but instead, the slightly to the left of dull efforts from Minogue form a passable half hour. It is difficult to imagine it being much longer than it is, though eagle-eyed individuals will spot those bonus tracks. Ignore them, like a gas leak in the kitchen they are best left alone. The likes of Tension just flutter away and filter out – a lack of thematic or interesting connection between the tracks is a real struggle. Fade outs which bring out the chance to make a real and concerted effort to tie One More Time or Green Light into the mix are there for the taking but ignored for standard practice and safe, clunky moves. Minogue can do better than this, and those who are satisfied with this piece must look no further than the equally forgettable, but ever so slightly stronger Disco to figure this out.
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