The princess of light Dance Pop has come back from the throne of ’90s and Y2K stardom to release her seventeenth studio album. From the prismatic mind of Kylie Minogue, Tension II was released on October 18, 2024 through BMG and is a sequel to 2023’s Tension. With a bold sound that seems to stand alone from its predecessor, while there are only a few thematic connections to be drawn between the two releases, there are plenty of tracks to be celebrated.
Looking back, Australia’s Minogue has been releasing music for thirty-six years. Fans recognize her most for her 2001 release of Fever, and its chart-topping track “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” That was her eighth studio album and since then she has continued to release music in the same vein. With that in mind, she ruled the genre with X in 2007, Aphrodite in 2010, and Disco in 2020. This triad has been the core of her discography since the 2000s.
Jumping forward, the release of Tension in 2023 showed a culmination of this work, with critical praise and multiple radio hits. The widespread Pop appeal of the album was apparent. Minogue followed the original release with a deluxe version, a remix album, an extended remix album, and now a complete sequel. It seems one of the best works of this artist’s career can’t seem to die, becoming immortal in the Electropop world.
Tension II has plenty of bounce, slinking between the synthesizer chords and leaving just enough room for laser-infused cowbell, the sound production is an audio dreamscape. The pre-release single “Lights Camera Action” shows Minogue taking the lead with her posh attitude, telling you
“I look stellar tonight my armor is by Gaultier.”
In this, she is practically begging someone to doubt her style so she can stun them with calculated and precise poise. The same can be said for “Hello” which is sexy and conceited. Minogue knows what she wants and how to get it. There are no questions asked, just a woman creating the night she thinks she deserves. It is enticing and charismatic yet scandalous in just the right amounts.
Club music has a certain amount of raunchiness to it; take a look at Charli XCX’s Brat or the avant-garde intensity of SOPHIE. Kylie Minogue has infused the soft sounds of ’90s Dance with the reckless vibes of Electronica to create the world that Tension and Tension II inhabit. This is apparent in “Kiss Bang Bang’s” provocative lyrics that float over the rising electro-kicks and “Edge of Saturday Night” with rave girl musician The Blessed Madonna as a feature. Minogue is painting the scene for a plucky night out at the bars. The music swarms your head as the drinks slip you into a Dance-based haze. The only emotions available are found spiraling the dance floor to a Techno beat.
Then “Midnight Ride” sees Orville Peck and Diplo help Minogue make a Country music fire fest a la 2018’s Golden. A unique track that stands on its own, alongside the sad escapist tension of “Dance Alone” feels like a weird addition to the album that could have been left out. They create conflict with the sound and themes of earlier tracks like “Someone for Me” which also feels different, but is still confident in its club adjacency. This would be best served with a vodka cranberry at the bar upon arrival, a pregame to the House-inspired Disco that has taken over as the album’s main theme.
Furthermore, “Taboo,” “Diamonds,” “Dance to the Music,” and “My Oh My” are all in this same Disco land of Dance Trance. The dance floor feels like its own world in these songs with inviting bumps and cruising reverb that set the scene for spinning all night long. Minogue twinkles over the beat in her verses and surfs down the grooves in the chorus of each to make a well-polished collection of music.
Overall, there is magic in Minogue’s relentless energy throughout Tension II. The songs are authentically Kylie Minogue, reminiscent of the Y2K days of her career while still finding new ways to brush contemporary sound in. One issue with Tension II, however, is the similarities that can be drawn between some of the songs. There is a limit to the production of Pop without it sounding derivative or generic.
Throbbing with sound, what this album does not have going for it in the realm of unique creativity, it makes up for with spectacular production that pours from the speakers like a diamond elixir. For this reason, Cryptic Rock gives Tension II 4 out of 5 stars.
){kind=link}
No comment