Album review: Kylie Minogue, Golden

Kylie Minogue for her new album Golden. Photo / Kylie Minogue Facebook

Kylie Minogue is undeniably a pop princess, which is why this country album is hard to fathom.

Kylie is a queen of reinvention and many artists go through a country phase - it happened to Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake and even Miley Cyrus made the full turn back to her roots. So after 30 years and 13 albums, Kylie's wander into Nashville was probably inevitable.

And it's not bad. It's just not that good either. The thing to know about Golden is the whole idea of going country came from the pop star's A&R guy. According to Entertainment Weekly, he said: "Think of a country inspiration element." and she said: "Sure!"

And that's exactly how it plays out. All the country elements are there in all their banjo-strumming, finger-picking, hand-clapping, foot-stomping glory and Kylie even goes so far as to put on a bit of a southern-American twang at times.

But there's no real commitment. It feels very much like a pop artist dabbling in country so the country songs are weak, especially in comparison to the standout pop tunes.

Dancing kicks off the track with a brilliant pure pop declaration: "When I go out, I wanna go out dancing" and Raining Glitter sounds like the club-anthem Kylie we know and love.

But then One Last Kiss and Shelby 68 sound like country-era Taylor Swift, Golden seems to borrow inspiration from Shakira, Music's Too Sad Without You is Lana Del Rey-esque, and there's too much that strays into a Mumford and Sons type territory.

All this is to paint a picture of just how many different layers of pop-country Kylie is trying to intertwine here. Like I said; it's not bad, almost every song has a catchy-as-hell hook, danceability and begs for a live sing-along.

It just very much sounds like her heart's not in the reinvention.

Kylie Minogue, Golden

Artist: Kylie Minogue
Album: Golden
Label: Liberator Music
Verdict: x