Albumism: https://www.albumism.com/reviews/kylie-minogue-disco

 

For all of her talents and achievements, Kylie Minogue’s legacy is often reduced to one limited description: dance-pop. It isn’t an entirely inaccurate summation of her sonic profile, to a degree; she utilized the genre to catalyze her first substantive reinvention thirty years ago with her third album, Rhythm of Love (1990).

 

However, Minogue refused to idle too long in one place. With each subsequent studio set, Minogue expanded her sound—all the while dance-pop remained an artistic touchstone to use when she saw fit.

 

Her most recent album, Golden (2018), marked an exciting chapter in her canon as she forged ahead with a country-inflected, guitar-pop record to demonstrate that there were no stylistic boundaries she could not cross. The collection enjoyed dual commercial and critical triumph—it also signposted Minogue’s creative renascence. Still, a fickle pocket of pundits and fans viewed Golden as an aberration because it eschewed dance-pop.

 

As 2019 ended, Minogue announced that DISCO—her fifteenth long player—was underway. Because its title supposedly left little to the imagination, that mentioned crowd felt a victory had been won—but it was only ever a “battle” in their minds. Every record drafted post-Rhythm of Love honored whichever form Minogue’s muse might have taken on during the genesis of a new project.

 

The same is true of DISCO, an LP that is less of a reclamation versus an intentional return to familiar ground in service to said muse. That specificity informs who Minogue enlists to assist her with the smithing of DISCO and co-writing its songs; a minor sampling of old friends and recent colleagues featured in the liner notes include Richard Stannard, Teemu Brunila, Sky Adams, Troy Miller, Ash Howes, Maegan Cottone and Daniel Shah. With respect to the album’s collaborative spirit, it is Minogue that is the central force behind the entirety of DISCO’s direction—her pen leads on all twelve of its sides.

 

Even when the track count expands upward to sixteen on the deluxe edition with “Till You Love Somebody,” “Fine Wine,” “Hey Lonely” and “Spotlight,” Minogue doesn’t relinquish her songwriting control. Stellar pieces such as “Say Something,” “Celebrate You” and “Hey Lonely” mark a continuance of the introspectiveness that suffused Golden, but, overall, DISCO is a polite pivot toward escapism.

 

Quintessential pop music subjects—nighttime pleasures (“Miss a Thing”), love gained, lost and found (“Real Groove”), the veneration of the disc jockey (“Where Does the DJ Go?”)—are all on deck here; Minogue renews them with heart and an experienced vocal delivery.

 

Regarding the music behind the lyrics, the stratum of influences employed on DISCO are impeccable. On “Magic,” Minogue reaches back to the burgeoning peak of the disco era—circa 1975—to echo The Silver Convention’s smash “Fly, Robin, Fly” before she jumps ahead to 1985 to revel in the post-disco synth-funk of Zapp’s “Computer Love” on “Dance Floor Darling.” The referential breadth in between these two examples on DISCO is threaded with further vintage elements—dance-oriented R&B, electronic textures, general clubland tonalities—sure to excite both the hardcore audiophile and the casual listener.

 

Undoubtedly comparisons will be drawn between DISCO and Light Years (2000), Minogue’s seventh album where she last vended in this sort of wide-ranging, retro classicism at play on her current offering. Although DISCO does not approximate the compositional scope of Light Years, it is just as engaging as that record in that it showcases Minogue’s source synthetization to make her own unique sonic imprint. She flits from a sprightly bass-guitar exercise, to old school disco/nu-disco compositing, around to a layered, four-on-the-floor vibe via “Monday Blues,” “I Love It” and “Unstoppable” respectively.

 

Each of these selections is evidence of Minogue’s own musical strain actioned within the larger contemporary pop genre; her impact—conscious or unconscious—on the latest efforts from Dua Lipa, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lady Gaga and Jessie Ware is readily apparent.

 

At one point, it was easy to put Minogue in the “don’t bore us, get to the chorus” box when she was still under the auspices of Stock-Aitken-Waterman at the outset of her career. Decades removed from that prefabricated incarnation, DISCO is the product of a woman keenly aware of her strengths, but not constrained by them. Minogue’s accessibility belies an innovative, eclectic mind capable of challenging and entertaining audiences by whichever medium she so chooses. No one knows what Minogue may do next, but as it stands, we can all joyously journey around the mirrorball with her for the time being with DISCO.

 

Notable Tracks: “Celebrate You” | “I Love It” | “Monday Blues” | “Say Something”

PopMatters: https://www.popmatters.com/kylie-minogue-di...2648648090.html

 

Kylie Minogue is well aware of the irony of releasing a dance-pop album called Disco during a year when going out to clubs isn't a good idea or even a possibility. But with the release of her highly anticipated 15th studio album, following her 2018 venture with the cowgirl hat on Golden, the beloved Aussie pop queen wants us to envision disco—both her new album and the genre at large—as a state of mind. "When we were out, and you could go to a club, sometimes you shut your eyes, and it's just you dancing, you know? Perhaps we can reverse that — you are on your own, but you shut your eyes and hear that music," Minogue told The Cut. "We have to keep the dream alive and connect in different ways."

 

Although dancing at nightclubs is not a reality right now, Disco and its fun-loving, dance-heavy production and themes have arrived at the exact right time to provide us yet another escape from a global crisis and American election turmoil. An artist like Minogue making a disco album is certainly nothing revolutionary or groundbreaking, considering she helped bring the genre to the 21st century with albums like Light Years, Fever, or Aphrodite. The difference now is that the singer has reached a stage in her life and career where appreciating the little things is more important than pushing boundaries. In the process of creating Disco, Minogue has captured the essence of what has always made her compelling: ignoring expectations and dancing the tears away. As she so eloquently begs on the same-sex love anthem "Say Something", the album's lead single: "'Cause love is love, it never ends / Can we all be as one again?"

 

At times the record feels somewhat overproduced, with manic sounds and manipulated vocals crowding tracks like "Miss a Thing" or "Supernova". But for the most part, Disco is perhaps the most cohesive and certainly most escapist album that Minogue has ever made. From the 1980s-influenced post-disco synths on "Real Groove", to the glittery dancefloor setting of "Last Chance", to the hyperbolic lyrics and production on "Magic" (easily one of the best and gayest songs in her entire discography), the singer sounds humbly comfortable with her status as a pop icon and is ready to have some pure, unabashed fun. Minogue at first described the album as "disco for grown-ups" to Entertainment Weekly, explaining that fully grown adults also need to have the time and place to blow off steam and escape from reality—especially during a year like this one.

 

Although the album's escapist themes are much appreciated during a time of intense social and political upheaval, Disco surely could have afforded to go deeper at times. Not that it needed a heavy-hearted ballad or an emotionally fraught banger, but Minogue's talent as a lyricist definitely could have been better showcased on the record. Disco's lyrics aren't impassive or glib, but it's clear that more time and attention was given to the album's production rather than the songwriting process. One clear exception would be the standard edition closer "Celebrate You", which refers to a protagonist named Mary. It's someone Minogue penned as "all of us" and "anyone who's feeling a bit down and needs to know that we're loved or that you're more than enough", describing the track as one of the most direct songs she's ever written.

 

Ultimately, even without the presence of deeper lyrics, Disco feels distinctly personal for Minogue, having built a career based on the influences of artists like Donna Summer. "We didn't want the lyrics to be [too]heavy-handed, but we couldn't help but be aware of the relevance they had," the singer said. "There's drive to be successful and do good things, but to reach people and connect them, it means something. I wanted more of that." A shimmery, ethereal getaway from any which reality you choose, the album gets you dancing and forgetting, therefore achieving its purpose.

Slant Magazine: https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review-...h-the-hangover/

 

In my review of Kylie Minogue’s 2018 album Golden, I not-so-boldly predicted that the country-influenced set would set the stage for the Aussie pop singer’s inevitable disco comeback. It wouldn’t be the first time she pirouetted away from the dance floor only to make a triumphant return to it. In fact, Minogue seems to have made a decennial tradition of it, having previously re-embraced dance music on 2000’s Light Years and 2010’s Aphrodite.

 

Not to put too fine a point on it, Minogue’s follow-up to Golden is titled Disco. In a way, such genre-targeted albums free her from opting into current pop trends—though, it should be noted, 2020 has already seen its share of disco revivalism. But if Róisín Murphy’s Róisín Machine and Jessie Ware’s What’s Your Pleasure? represent a deep dive into the admittedly diverse genre, Disco is content to mine its more superficial virtues.

 

The first song released from Disco, “Say Something,” made for a deceptive introduction to the album: A midtempo synth-pop sleeper in the vein of past lead singles “All the Lovers” and “Into the Blue,” the track, with its wobbly bassline and funk guitar licks, works better as a momentary respite among Disco’s otherwise frenetic middle stretch. Dance anthems like the bass-driven “Supernova” and the unrelentingly catchy “Last Chance” are Minogue’s most unabashedly aggressive in years.

 

Nothing here reaches the high camp of Minogue’s 2001 single “Your Disco Needs You,” but the infectious “Monday Blues,” which boasts intertwining strands of disco DNA from both Chic and Kool & the Gang, makes a valiant attempt. Occasionally, Disco ventures into parody, with on-the-nose references to Studio 54, “I Will Survive,” and Earth, Wind & Fire, among others, scattered throughout. But while the album might be a purely derivative work, its period arrangements—all sweeping disco strings, Nile Rodgers-esque guitar licks, and indiscriminately deployed cowbell—are executed with aplomb.

 

Disco’s opening track, “Magic,” sweetens its mix of squelchy bass synth and staccato horn stabs with just a dollop of schmaltz: “Do ya, do ya, do ya/Do ya believe in magic?” The album’s lyrics are generic and vaguely uplifting enough to project onto any personal or global disaster: “Oh, we all got wanderlust in the darkest place,” Minogue sings on “Say Something.” Vocally, her voice sounds tinny throughout, a mixing deficiency that similarly plagued her last few albums, but the singer effortlessly slips into her head voice on “Magic,” heightening the song’s buoyancy, while talk-box effects and digital editing add some sonic interest to “Real Groove” and “Dance Floor Darling.”

 

Minogue has made a version of this album before. The filter disco of “Miss a Thing” and “I Love It,” co-written and co-produced by longtime collaborator Richard “Biff” Stannard, would fit comfortably on 2000’s Light Years or 2001’s Fever. For better or worse, though, Disco doesn’t attempt to adapt the classic titular sound in a contemporary context like those albums did, instead content to bask in unapologetic homage. In the end, it’s a sugar rush worth the hangover.

5/5 stars from Idolator!

 

https://www.idolator.com/7915884/album-revi...=1&chrome=1

 

With the world slowly sliding into darkness and despair, Kylie Minogue stepped up like a superhero to spread a little happiness and light with DISCO. The title says it all. The pop icon’s 15th studio album is dedicated to nights under the mirrorball. It’s a love letter to the ’70s dance genre that somehow manages to be both intensely reverent and forward-thinking. Kylie isn’t inserting herself into the past. She’s simply reviving the best parts of it — the razzle-dazzle, silliness and overwhelming sense of inclusion.

 

When it comes to cohesive party albums, DISCO is impossible to beat. With 16, serotonin-raising bangers (on the deluxe edition), this is one of those rare records that provides the perfect soundtrack for an hour or so of dancing. That doesn’t mean that some cuts don’t shine a little brighter than others. Lead single “Say Something” remains a monumental achievement both for the loveliness of its production and the bittersweet lyrics that express a longing for togetherness — a feeling that resonates so strongly in 2020.

 

“Say Something” set the bar for DISCO way up in the stratosphere, but the album’s subsequent singles somehow reached similar, dizzying heights. “Magic” ranks as one of Kylie’s best singles of the 21st century, while “I Love It” is a dreamy, romantic bop for the ages. As for the rest of the opus, a handful of songs really stand out on the first listen. “Dance Floor Darling” is a tongue-in-cheek floorfiller that takes me straight back to the high-camp of Light Years. Falling somewhere between “Koocachoo” and “Disco Down,” this is three minutes of dance-pop perfection.

 

“Where Does The DJ Go?” also towers with its piano intro and Gloria Gaynor-channeling chorus. Yes, it’s another song about twirling the night away, but there’s a faint trace of melancholy that elevates it. “Celebrate You” pulls a similar trick. The loved-up banger begins as a pep talk, before examining the way that love can make you kinder and more forgiving to yourself. It’s a deceptively adult pop song shaped by life lessons. Other highlights include the slinky “Miss A Thing” and funky “Real Groove,” which is definitely single-worthy.

 

It wouldn’t be a Kylie album unless some of the best songs were relegated to bonus tracks and “Hey Lonely” continues the tradition. This adorable bop reminds me of UK duo Dollar (anyone remember them?) with its bouncy chorus and innate sweetness. “Till You Love Somebody” is another delightful tune, while “Spotlight” ends the album in exactly the way that it started. Namely, with a retro dance anthem that evokes disco greats of old like Kool & The Gang and Earth, Wind & Fire. You owe it to yourself to buy the deluxe edition.

 

There isn’t a dud to be found on DISCO, but songs like “Monday Blues,” “Last Chance” and “Unstoppable” can probably be described as (very) enjoyable filler. And then there are cuts like “Supernova” and “Fine Wine,” which are complete nonsense, but instantly iconic and utterly lovable. If you need a break from the heaviness of 2020, this is your ticket to another dimension where romance fills the (non-toxic) air and the dance floor is always heaving. Few albums in the history of pop have been as desperately needed as this.