Words: Dai Man

Three years after her tenth album, X, Ms. Minogue is back, incarnated as the Goddess of Love. Which makes sense given the millions worldwide devoted to this pint-sized pop princess, possibly her native Australia’s only real royalty. Whilst X was a more edgy affair, great as it was it took many by surprise, possibly as a result of having too many influences within and combined with some odd choices for the single releases it resulted in poorer than expected sales. Aphrodite is in many ways a response to the public’s reaction to X and Kylie and her team of writers and producers have taken no chances this time around. Aphrodite ticks all the ‘why we love Kylie’ boxes and producer Stuart Price has made sure that this album is one of Kylie’s most cohesive ever. Is it the next Fever? Quite probably. Is it a great Kylie album? Absolutely!

1) All the Lovers

The perfect single to introduce a euphoric dance record, All The Lovers hits all the right notes and has a to-die-for middle eight. The video is a sensation; Kylie above a model-gorgeous love pyramid all moving in tune with her, pop’s Aphrodite inspired! The single is also a fitting reminder that Kylie has never had to reply on the aggressive sexual posturing of so many of today’s young singers, especially those from the US. All The Lovers, like Kylie herself, is about joy, pure and unabashed.

2) Get Outta My Way

Aphrodite’s most exciting moment, Get Outta My Way captures the album’s essence and provides the most uplifting disco-fuelled song on the album; these pulsing beats which are sure to be all over the world’s dancefloors this summer. I can’t wait for the remixes, but the album edit will still sell millions if it’s the second single as reported.

3) Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)

Love and dancing are the two recurrent themes on Aphrodite and Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love) is equal parts of both. Undeniably simple but the shiny disco beats would make even the most lethargic person shake their arse and contains hard to resist are lyrics “All we need in this life is love, it’s true, all I need is the love I get, from you.”

4) Closer

This baroque sounding progressive rock tune, which sounds as if it’s using an 18th century harpsichord in its opening is the first track to move away from the classic European club beats of the first three tunes. The beats build progressively whilst Kylie sings “closer, closer, closer you pull me in” creating the kind of joy one might get from the first pangs of an mdma burst.

5) Everything Is Beautiful

After the rush of previous track Closer, Kylie spends time contemplating that everything is beautiful, which after a night spent on the dance floors of Mykonos, it might well be. Stabbing beats subside as she sings “And now I’m travelling at such blissful speed, no need to think at this velocity.” Out of her mind? Surely not Ms. Minogue!

6) Aphrodite

The title track is a monster. “Can you feel me in stereo? It’s the truth/it’s the fact/ I was gone and now I’m back” which is probably Kylie recognising certain criticisms of her previous two albums. If that’s the case she’s correct, she is back, because six songs in and it does appear that Aphrodite’s the biggest thing she’s done since Fever moved the world.

7) Illusion

Previously all the songs have been about joy and dance, Illusion by comparison sees Kylie questioning her lover’s intentions, making it somewhat of a departure from the rest of the album lyrically, though those beats and shiny production don’t dim whilst Kylie sings that she’s “Surrounded by confusion.”

Better Than Today

“What’s the point in living if you don’t wanna dance?” Lyrically this frothy little number sums up the whole point of Aphrodite. It’s feel-good and a life well spent is one spent dancing, in your heart and on the dancefloor. “We just want tomorrow to be better than today.” Couldn’t agree more.

9) Too Much

Co-written by Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, Too Much is frothy and almost too sweet for its own good, the first song on Aphrodite where the production begins to start sounding a bit generic. I blame the over-hyped Shears, the song simplicity lets it down.

10) Cupid Boy

The guitar chord progression at the beginning and end makes for a bit of interest but ultimately Cupid Boy is a fairly conventional electro pop song delivered with pulsing beats. It has all the energy that Aphrodite has delivered to this point but not much to make it a standout.

11) Looking For An Angel

Back to the quality the album starts with, Looking For An Angel has massive dancefloor credentials and a sweetly sung lyric about, well the title gives it away. This time Kylie’s cuteness works well and hopefully it will be remixed for the clubs. Also delivers one of Aphrodite’s best lines, “And when good things are good I want to share them, I don’t want to be alone.”

12) Can’t Beat the Feeling

Closing out the regular album release, Can’t Beat the Feeling is more pure joy. “You’ve got an energy burning like I’ve never seen, and I can’t beat the feeling that I get when I’m with you.” The song is about the magic of two people coming together to experience bliss and Kylie is well aware that her fans know she’s singing to them, this song being a respectful nod to them as well as being a joyous dance track about “two people synchronised.”

13) Mighty Rivers – iTunes Deluxe Experience bonus track

She may be princess of pop, but Kylie is also queen of b sides, bonus tracks and ones that didn’t quite make it. This is one of the best ever and one of the stand-out tracks on Aphrodite, a clever move by the record company designed to encourage you to consider buying the digital deluxe edition. Swirling currents of disco euphoria will whisk you away in Aphrodite’s loving arms. A perfect ending.

Best tracks: All The Lovers, Get Outta My Way, Looking For An Angel and Mighty Rivers.

With X there was some criticism from fans that Kylie hadn’t opened herself up emotionally to share some of the darker moments of her fight with cancer. But that’s missing the point totally. Kylie was Baz Luhrmann’s fairy in Moulin Rouge for a reason. The world adores her for she makes the world feel good, she’s our ray of golden sunshine and we don’t need her reminding us of life’s tribulations. Her answer with Aphrodite, delivered with a knowing wink, is to shower us all in love, to bathe us all in happy, disco-fuelled joy. Get it!