FEATURE:
Revisiting...
Kylie Minogue - DISCO
___________
EVEN though the album was only released…
in November last year, Kylie Minogue’s fifteenth studio album, DISCO, is one that I feel was hugely acclaimed but underplayed. I heard a couple of the tracks played on BBC Radio 2, though I think a lot of stations missed out on it. Minogue has said that she is moving back to Australia, so I wonder how often we will see her in the U.K. DISCO gained Minogue the best reviews she has had in a decade. In fact, I would we might have to go back to 2000 or 2001 when she was enjoyed a real purple patch with Light Years and Fever (released in 2000 and 2001 respectively). Maybe DISCO was a bit of a return to those albums in terms of the sound. Blending aspects of those albums with elements of her late-1980s/early-1990s records, DISCO was not a nostalgia trip or a chance to recapture the past. The production is very of-the-moment; Minogue keeping things modern, though there is that nod to Disco of the 1970s and some 1980s Pop sounds in the blend. An album that, I feel, deserves wider listenership and play, DISCO is one of last year’s finest albums. With modern artists like Dua Lipa sort of picking up Minogue’s mantle and following her influence, it is good t see that the ‘original’ is at the top of her game! I do feel that people should go and listen to the marvellous DISCO. Reaching number one in the U.K., DISCO is an album packed with gems.
I am going to quote a couple of review before I round off and conclude. CLASH gave the album a 9/10 when they investigated it back in November of last year:
“‘DISCO’ wears her influences on its sleeve. Hell, it’s there in the title – this is sheer, unashamed, upbeat disco, a fusion of vintage and modern flavours, one that would feel equally at home with the glitz and the glam of Studio 54 and South London dress-to-sweat dugout Horse Meat Disco.
‘Magic’ is an effervescent opener, its gentle pulse peeling you away from the raw pessimism of 2020’s ongoing dystopia. ‘Miss A Thing’ moves the tempo up a notch, adding a dash of Daft Punk’s retro-fetishism for good measure. ‘Real Groove’ more than delivers on its title, with Kylie channelling house abandon against those lush keys. - ‘Monday Blues’ dials back the disco elements in favour of summery pop, its slight Mediterranean flavour providing the perfect dose of escapism. ‘Supernova’ meanwhile is an absolute Giorgio Moroder style onslaught, its slinky Euro-centric perversions adding a dose of strings to her lyrical double entendres.
‘Say Something’ leans once more on those bubbling electronics, recalling Robyn’s ‘Honey’ is its cutting edge digi-pop. The catalogue of Nile Rodgers permeates the Chic-style beat that drives ‘Last Chance’, something that ‘I Love It’ amplifies in its symphonic, orchestral glamour.
‘Where Does The DJ Go?’ is perhaps a prescient question with lockdown part deux now upon us, while stylistically its a homage to the twilight reinvention that frames ‘Saturday Night Fever’. ‘Dance Floor Darling’ offers up raw 80s chart sonics with its buzzsaw guitar chords, a slo-mo transition piece that knocks at the door of club bumper ‘Unstoppable’.
Closing with the unashamed pop of ‘Celebrate You’, ‘DISCO’ is the sound of Kylie Minogue re-connecting with her roots. 2018’s ‘Golden’ was a country-pop crossover marked by matters personal, the lyrics delving into highly personal areas of her life. ‘DISCO’ by way of contrast is sheer escapism from start to finish, an exit point from the darkness that has fallen over 2020.
It’s not subtle – at some points the references may as well be put up in fluorescent lights – but that’s OK, since the aim is to be direct, to move people, and to entertain. As an ode to the pleasures of the dancefloor, Kylie has delivered her most unashamedly fun record in almost a decade”.
I might source a couple of interviews before ending with another review. DISCO is a very different album to 2018’s Golden. Both albums have seen Minogue embark on new creative and sonic phases. This was addressed in an interview with Elle from last November:
“Two years since the release of her country-tinged pop project Golden, Minogue once again enters a new phase with Disco, her latest studio album. Joining the 2020 pop disco revival started by Dua Lipa and Jessie Ware, Minogue has crafted a bevy of contemplative, dance floor-ready tracks that recall her retro-imbued albums Light Years (2000) and Fever (2001). With lead single “Say Something,” Minogue provides a balm for the lonely days of quarantine: “We're a million miles apart, in a thousand ways / Baby, you could light up the dark, like a solar scape,” she sings with a candy-coated lilt.
Disco delivers exactly the kind of optimism people need in 2020. “I think a lot of my songs and a lot of the songs on Disco are about togetherness, and that dream of good times, acknowledging they're not all great times,” Minogue says. Phoning in from her home in London, she speaks with ELLE.com about how quarantine affected the making of the album, the new wave of disco pop, and her dream future collaborators.
Why was it important to mix wistfulness with hope on the record?
I think that's one of my happy places. "All The Lovers" is like that, which is from 2011. In "Can't Get You Out of My Head," there's a longing and a plaintive cool within that. It's enough to drive me crazy: You can't shake the idea of this person. That, to me, is a no-brainer. That's a place I like to go to, to try to illustrate that, especially lyrically within a song. There's other songs on the album [where] really it's like, we're just having a good time. There's really no storyline other than "this is the dance we're doing." I'm not afraid to do that.
I heard you made part of the record before COVID-19 and the rest of it during quarantine
I started on the album last year and carried on early this year. My last gig was in São Paolo and the date is etched in my brain, March 6, because the weeks leading up to that, I was speaking to my management every day saying, "Is this still on? Is this still happening?" It did happen, and it was fantastic, but that was it. That was the last gig I did. Then I was back in various studios and hit my stride with different writers and producers: We think we've got this disco thing. We know the lane we're supposed to be in. I was going all day, every day, and then lockdown happened.
What was that transition like for you when quarantine hit?
I thought, how can we keep doing this? I took baby steps using GarageBand, which I'd never used before. Then thought, okay, I've got to get serious: auditing all the equipment, setting up a home studio, and learning the basics of Logic to at least be able to record my vocals and do remote recording sessions. It took some getting used to. Everyone being in their houses, all my collaborators, some of them with children, they'd say, "Well, I could do 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Then I've got to put the kids down." Someone would have a Wi-Fi problem, there'd be buffering issues. There'd be challenges, but every day one of us would say, "We are so thankful to be able to do this, stay creative, keep working."
How did you approach making Disco differently than Golden?
Oh, quite differently. Golden was about songwriting and going back to basics. I think having a piece of country was delving into that world and finding a way to have that make sense with my pop sensibility.
It meant so much to me to try to understand the past couple of years. I had a breakup, and it's not about him, it's about me. It was that age-old story of trying to understand what happened and how I felt about it. So, on that level with songwriting, there were themes that are universal. I definitely haven't forgotten any of the lessons. And by osmosis, going to Nashville and learning more about songwriting, something changes [in you]. Everybody talks about it when they've been to Nashville. I've joined the fan club because my time there was incredible.
This year, we've been seeing a disco revival in pop with Lady Gaga, Jessie Ware, and Róisín Murphy, to name a few. Dua Lipa has referenced your older work as well. What do you think accounts for the shift to disco liberation in pop?
I'm asking the same question because it's in the air. I think Dua started her album last year. I started mine last year. I don't know that anyone knew that anyone else was doing disco or going down that path, yet we have to talk about it this year. So, why is it happening? Why is it so relevant? I don't entirely know the answer to that. Firstly, it's got to be that pop is cyclic. The music we hear veers toward something else in time. There's a moment in the world now where people want or are enjoying some escapism. I have my own personal reasons for how I ended up having disco as the thing for this album, but it had nothing to do with 2020. It's just ideas and actualities colliding.
Why do you think there's so much power in pop music, especially this year? We've gotten some really incredible pop albums.
Maybe people are more receptive to it at the moment, or the desire for music and to appreciate. I think we're appreciating the day, whether it's a beautiful, sunny day or in London today, the weather has just turned. I can't speak for everybody, but it seems that collectively, if I can generalize, we're grateful for much smaller things that we would have taken for granted before. We haven't been through this before. It certainly feels like music is one of the things that can connect and unite people, as it always has been, but this year is a year like no other for us”.
In an interview with Music Week, it was interesting to read Minogue being asked about the streaming age and what it is like being on the BMG label:
“Golden was so successful, and moved you into a new world musically, many people would have stuck with that sound…
“Well, the lessons that I learned in Nashville [where Golden was largely recorded] have stayed with me and I don’t think they will ever leave. Writing for this album, it might not sound like it, but it’s in me now and I really love that. And I will always love singing Dancing. I would love to go to Nashville again and just write or see what Nashville could bring to another style. It was so different to recording in LA or wherever. They would say, ‘Oh, let me give you numbers, let me give you the best cafes and restaurants’. You really felt welcomed long before you got there. And there are all sorts of writers there and music is everywhere. I absolutely loved it.”
How does it feel to have made 15 albums?
“On the one hand I go, ‘Wow, 15 albums’. And on the other I go, ‘That’s not so many!’ It’s weird. I got off to a good start – PWL was one every year, so I managed to get some pace in early…”
Very few people actually get to make that many records though…
“I definitely have to remind myself of that and be grateful for the opportunity. I’d be so sad if I didn’t have the opportunity to make records now, when I’ve collected all these nuggets of experience and I want to use them.”
How is it being on BMG?
“I first worked with Jamie [Nelson] in 1999. I met him and Miles Leonard at Parlophone and they were great, heady days – that was my full-on launch back into pop with Spinning Around. Jamie would not let go of Spinning Around until it was right – and he was right. He’s a fantastic A&R. He went elsewhere, I went elsewhere but we’ve come back together on this – he was really pivotal. And Alistair, Gemma and the team, they have a really nice way about them.”
You started off in the CD/cassette era. How do you feel about streaming?
“It seemed much simpler back then. I have a friend who used to work in a record store in Australia and she said she fudged the chart each week to [help] the band she absolutely loved. So it wasn’t foolproof! But at least there was a transaction at the till, there was a physical product… I listen to streaming, so I love it as a consumer. But where it puts me chart-wise and to understand who you’re reaching, that’s tricky. I know BMG are really making an effort to get more streaming for me but my audience is probably a bit like me, with one foot in the old world and one foot in the new world. So I’m doing as best as I can to move with the times. But if someone asks me to explain how it all works, I’d have to just get the cheque and leave the room! Once you get into algorithms… I’ll just sing the song, how about that?”
Is it strange to not have hit singles in the same way any more?
“Yeah, I’ve had to recalibrate my understanding of success in that way. You’re just able to let go and let the song do what it’s going to do – you’re never quite sure what it’s going to do, although you have your hopes for it. Success to me right now is being on playlists, being played on radio and just reaching people. I’ve got to just remember that and focus around the album”.
I want to introduce AllMusic’s take on DISCO. They gave it one of the most positive and complete reviews. It is amazing to think that, for such a celebrated album, it is not played all too much now – and when it came out, it was only reserved to certain stations:
“Following a relatively lackluster decade that included 2018's countrified diversion Golden, DISCO is a welcome return to the club-friendly dance-pop that defined Australian diva Kylie Minogue's early 21st century rebirth. Hitting the same highs as her triumphant 2000s stretch -- namely Light Years, Fever, X, and Aphrodite -- this glittery, feel-good set is nothing short of euphoric, a dozen near-perfect gems that pay respect to the album's namesake era while updating the production with thrilling results. Channeling icons like Gloria Gaynor, Donna Summer, and Chic, Minogue puts her stamp on the genre with expert finesse. While it's no surprise that she can pull this off -- she's nailed the disco sound at various points in her long career -- hearing an unbroken stretch of Kylie-branded dancefloor throwbacks is a rapturous experience. Mostly written and recorded on her own at her London home during the COVID-19 lockdown, DISCO also marks the first time Minogue has taken control of the engineering, resulting in a totally cohesive aesthetic and sonic experience. Hopping into a time machine set for Studio 54's '70s heyday, she resurrects the famed club's ecstatic highs without the hedonistic excess, a non-stop escapist trip complete with elastic bass, bell-bottomed struts, dramatic strings, and a flood of hand claps.
After the mirror ball descends in the opening notes of the twinkling single "Magic," the groove locks in with "Miss A Thing," an evocative dose of bliss to hustle the night away. Lead single "Say Something" is not only a peak on DISCO, it's also one of Minogue's best songs to date, a rapturous anthem that unifies with its urgent plea of "Love is love/It never ends/Can we all be as one again?" On an album already packed with such treasures, other standouts include the intergalactic frenzy "Supernova"; the feverish, Bee Gees-indebted throbber "Last Chance"; and the talk box rush of "Dance Floor Darling." Even the relatively subdued closer "Celebrate You" is a welcome highlight, a moving ode that features Minogue's strongest vocal performance and songwriting on the album. Fifteen albums into her illustrious career, the pop chameleon shows no signs of slowing down, rebooting her catalog once again with what she does best: delivering joy and inspiration through the power of dance”.
I would urge everyone to listen to DISCO if they have not heard it. Even if you are not a massive Kylie Minogue fan, there is so much to enjoy through her 2020 album. It is one I was keen to revisit. If you need a boost or want to hear an album that mixes classic Disco sounds with modern Pop, then Kylie Minogue’s fifteenth studio album…
IS the one for you.