It’s not out of the realms of possibility that more have been pressed due to the success of PP or there is a sweetener deal with Spotify - they get a bigger % of the sales cut for putting it front of people and/or some playlist support?

 

There seems to be all sorts of deals between labels and Spotify - auto play in exchange for reduced royalties etc.,

 

Anyway, anyone who hasn’t had the coke bottle vinyl link yet: https://music.kylie.com/product/115341?password=TENSIONSFFLP

Hopefully this will give Tension a bit of a boost on release week here in Ireland

 

https://goldendiscs.ie/products/tension-hmv...ylie-minogue-cd

A couple of Tension era songs leaked, but not album tracks. 'Running' and 'Vegas Baby' (not to be confused with 'Vegas High')

The key album tracks need to be prevented from leaks.

An update on albums released in September, up to and including Kylie's week of release:

 

1st September 2023

Deacon Blue - All The Old 45s: The Very Best Of

Empire State bast*rd - Rivers Of Heresy

Icona Pop - Club Romantech

Pretenders - Relentless

Sigala - Every Cloud

Sigur Rós – Átta [CD]

Slowdive - Everything Is Alive

 

8th September 2023

James Blake - Playing Robots Into Heaven

Kvelertak - Endling

Lack Of Afro – Square One

Olivia Rodrigo - Guts

Public Service Broadcasting - This New Noise

Róisín Murphy - Hit Parade

Romy - Mid Air

Royal Blood - Back To The Water Below

Sparklehorse - Bird Machine

Stornoway - Dig The Mountain

The Coral - Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medicine Show

The Coral - Sea Of Mirrors

Yussef Dayes – Black Classical Music

 

15th September 2023

Ash - Race The Night

Corey Taylor - CMF2

Corinne Bailey Ray - Black Rainbows

Jonas Kaufmann - The Sound Of Movies

Killer Mike – Michael [CD]

Madison Beer - Silence Between Songs

Mae Muller - Sorry I'm Late

The Hoosiers - Confidence

Thirty Seconds To Mars - It's The End Of The World But It's A Beautiful Day

Willie Nelson - Bluegrass

 

22nd September 2023

Anastacia – Our Songs

Devendra Banhart - Flying Wig

Kylie Minogue - Tension

Matteo Bocelli – Matteo

Teenage Fanclub – Nothing Lasts Forever

 

 

Kylie's week of release still looking quite bare. Of her competition on 22nd September, their most recent album peaks are:

 

#4 - Matteo Bocelli (a Christmas album with Andrea Bocelli) [in 2022]

#11 - Teenage Fanclub [in 2021]

Not Top 100 - Anastacia [in 2017]

Not Top 100 - Devendra Banhart [in 2019]

 

 

The only album released in the weeks beforehand that should still be high up the chart in Kylie's week is Olivia Rodrigo, who'll be on her third week in the chart at that point.

 

I'd be surprised if she's still a huge threat in week 3 based on those numbers. This second album era only launched yesterday so it's too early to tell how well it'll be received, but I'd be surprised if Olivia is still a threat in week 3 based on the numbers of her debut album in the first 3 weeks:

 

03/06 | 50,942 | Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

10/06 | 32,844 | Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

17/06 | 25,846 | Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

 

 

I shouldn't jinx Kylie, but so far so good in terms of her not going up against another massive artist, like she was with Disco (Little Mix!). That week was so nailbiting although pretty exciting to experience such a chart battle. I don't think I want a repeat of it though. :kink:

I don't think I want a repeat of it though. :kink:

I think BMG (and Kylie) would love an intense chart battle, as it helps to drive up sales.

I think BMG (and Kylie) would love an intense chart battle, as it helps to drive up sales.

 

It does, if you compare the opening week sales between Disco and Golden, that's a 7K difference. :lol:

I think plenty more albums could take their positions in the coming weeks, however i guess quite a few will wait until the Xmas market and also quite a few will want to avoid Miss Minogue.

The tense battle is good if you win it, i think either way Kylie and BMG want another number 1 giving it them their 4th in their partnership and Kylies 9th in total in the UK.

According to insider gossip, 'Hold on to Now' is lined up to be single 2. Apparently they were indecisive between that and another song, but in the end chose Hold on to Now because it "represents 60% of the album".

According to insider gossip, 'Hold on to Now' is lined up to be single 2. Apparently they were indecisive between that and another song, but in the end chose Hold on to Now because it "represents 60% of the album".

 

I've been dying to hear this song for months, so at least that will mean I can get to sooner (avoiding any leaks)

According to insider gossip, 'Hold on to Now' is lined up to be single 2. Apparently they were indecisive between that and another song, but in the end chose Hold on to Now because it "represents 60% of the album".

 

SayGay (:kink:) will implode if this is the case :lol:

^ and Popjustice is already in a state over it! :o :lol:

 

I've been dying to hear this song for months, so at least that will mean I can get to sooner (avoiding any leaks)

I haven't heard it either yet! The songs it's been compared to makes me excited to hear it. Though I understand the reticence that fans have, given that "classic Kylie" unfortunately hasn't been a recipe for success in the singles chart in recent years.

 

Popjustice reactions:

 

Not here for it...

 

"Releasing Hold On To Now feels like a bit of a back pedal instead of pushing ahead with Tension to match Padam’s vibe."

 

"Not riding the Padam wave by releasing Tension and potentially scoring another hit is absolute insanity."

 

"Releasing Hold On To Now, a song she has done over and over, will only serve to kill off any goodwill she has clawed back with Padam. Hold On To Now is a song that will only appeal to the the gays that already have the album pre ordered, won't make nearly as much impact or chart well." (from Regina, former BuzzJack member)

 

"Label sounding scared so are reverting back to past album campaigns and going for a safe option. Don't do it."

 

"If the GP hasn't really cared that much about The One, Into The Blue, Say Something and all the other I Believe In You carbon copies, maybe that's a sign to not release another song like that and instead try something new (i.e. Tension)?"

 

More positive...

 

"I loved the snippet of Hold On To Now, and don’t think it will kill off the campaign."

 

"I get Hold On To Now isn’t exactly new ground for her but it’s still great and this prevailing narrative that it’s bad before it’s even out is kind of annoying."

 

"When people say 'it sounds like All The Lovers' like it's supposed to be a bad thing."

 

"I think Hold On To Now is being underestimated."

 

"Hold On To Now is definitely on the higher spectrum of the I Believe In You retreads. It definitely has that Robyn-lite repeating synth in the back that will appeal to the younger gays who jumped on board with Padam."

 

"Hold On To Now is legitimately gorgeous so people should calm down just a bitsy if it is indeed coming next."

 

"It's gorgeous, it reminds me of 'Crystallize' but more ethereal and emotional?"

I haven't heard Hold onto now myself so i cant judge but i get the points about it possibly been ground she has already covered which in recent years hasn't set the singles chart on fire for her, maybe more people will be willing to give it a try who may have reinvested in Kylie since she released padam padam. On the other hand if there is something very different on the album like the tension song itself (which i have not heard) that is probably the better choice for 2nd single to try and build on what was achieved with padam padam. Who knows, if the right song is picked as 2nd single it might do something more in the charts than we expect, id love if Kylie could get a 2nd top 40 this time around or even higher but im well aware there is a chance the success of padam padam could be a one off for another long time.

Well in the Variety interview, Jamie Nelson says

 

Nelson says there are plenty of potential follow-up hits on the album, which he says is “more electronic” than Minogue’s 2020 “Disco” record, which topped the charts in Britain.

 

“Have we got music that’s going to resonate and connect with people, and surprise them? Absolutely!” he declares. “We’ve certainly got the singles for a long campaign and there will be a few surprises along the way.”

 

 

I am confident that we will get some features etc in the coming songs..........

 

 

It will be interesting to see how reflective padam padam is in sound wise comparing to the rest of the album, i wonder if BMG will take the approach of maybe adding a feature on the 2nd single when its released to go for that 2nd hit and keep the momentun going. Generally im not a big fan of features as everyone is doing it these days but at the same time i wouldnt turn my nose up at it if Kylie managed a fairly decent hit with the 2nd single,

To be honest, I get their concerns — i don’t want the campaign to dive into the usual Radio 2 seas, we will have the future album campaigns for that. The time is now to branch out as wide as possible, and I’m not sure a ‘safe’ emotopop Kylie sound will do that.

 

Everyone is saying it’s a continuation of ‘I Believe in You’ — ‘All the Lovers’ — ‘Say Something’, and I’d leave this type of sound for single 3 and Q4.

 

But I hope they know what they’re doing. Also they can release ‘Tension’ as a buzz track a week before the album to bring up the hype of a ‘clubby’ sound.

Hold Onto Now sounds like a great song. It just will not have any potential to do anything like what Padam did. Tension however sounds like another song that Hot Hits would playlist and Capital would be happy to spam again.

 

Here's my full thoughts:

 

I know Padam's success is probably a lightning in a bottle moment... But whatever Kylie releases next is in the unique position of probably getting better instant support from playlists and streaming off the bat than she’s had in over a decade because off Padam’s success. As good as it might be, releasing another Radio 2 playlist sounding song instead of something that sounds like it’s from the same sonic universe as Padam doesn't make much sense. They’re throwing away what will probably be very temporary goodwill from radios and playlists alike on something that is very unlikely to do anything other than help shift some album pre-orders.

 

Edited July 4, 20231 yr by 365

^ I agree. A clip of the title track has been getting a lot of attention on Twitter so I could see it potentially taking off in a similar way to Padam Padam. I’ve not heard any of Hold On to Now yet but surely it could be a good third single to promote the album over Christmas?

I’ve heard the 15 second snippets of ‘Tension’ and ‘Vegas High’ - not sure from the clips I get the hysteria for ‘Tension’ but of course that could change when hearing it in full, I absolutely loved ‘Vegas High’ though!

 

Not heard ‘Hold On To Now’ but it seems to have been panned since the success of PP - however at one point it was going to be the lead so obviously a song that Kylie and the label like!