Released just two years after receiving her shock cancer diagnosis – and four years on from 2003’s Body Language – Kylie Minogue’s tenth album, X, was a powerful collection of (largely) electro-pop bangers. Though, in songs such as Stars, Cosmic and No More Rain, there were lyrical nods to the ordeal she had endured, this 2007 set was defiantly focused on dancing the whole damn business out of her system.
Listen to ‘X’ here.
Musical DNA of the 70s and 80s
There is a heritage electronica twist to songs such as the synth-slab Like A Drug, but, generally, other tracks, among them the Calvin Harris and Richard Stannard euphoria of In My Arms (released as a single in 2008), might have appeared on 2001’s Fever album, or much of Kylie’s material since. That latter song, in particular, is very much a case of: if it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.
Released as X’s lead single, 2 Hearts, which was premiered at BoomBox, a club night in London’s trendy Hoxton district, is perhaps the album’s boldest statement of intent. Written and produced by underground electro-punk duo Kish Mauve, its glam-rock edging was perhaps designed to position Kylie as a more accessible Goldfrapp. It did decent business, topping the Australian charts and hitting No.4 in the UK, but there were safer choices that could have made for a more familiar introduction to the album. Perhaps that was the point… After her treatment, no one would blame Kylie for caring rather less about that sort of thing.