Album review: Kylie Minogue, Kiss Me Once

She's a 45-year-old pop doll, with 27 years in the business under her belt, releasing her 12th studio album, yet somehow Kylie Minogue doesn't seem dated or delusional, nor desperate for attention.

There's no reinvention on Kiss Me Once, no image overhaul, no foray into a new genre - Minogue continues to make harmless, modern, disco pop that sells by the bucketload, and seems to have some enduring quality that keeps fans dancing.

Sure, there's some bad lyrics, and a certain blandness to at least half of the 13 new tracks, but there are some more winning numbers which will make it worth the effort for fans.

So let's get the bad bits out of the way. It might be best for everyone if Beautiful is buried and forgotten. A vocodered, meaningless Disney ballad with Enrique Iglesias, let's assume Minogue was in questionable headspace when she chose the track, and hope it doesn't become a single.

Into the Blue is actually a half-decent track somewhat ruined by some really tinny, plastic-sounding vocal production. Million Miles, and Fine, are unobjectionable, but feel like club filler. Sexy Love is actually quite appealing in a Katy Perry/California Gurls kind of way, but adds nothing new.

On the flip side, Mr President opens sounding like a middle-aged version of Azealia Banks' 212, then somehow manages to mix it with a Spinning Around euphoria that makes it one of the best cuts on the album.

The other most successful numbers come courtesy of Pharrell Williams - I Was Gonna Cancel may make you yearn to hear his voice instead, but it is unmistakably the kind of effortless, sparkling disco-funk he does so well; Ariel Rechtshaid - producer of Haim and Sky Ferreira, who takes If Only to a much more grand, rocking, tribal zone than we'd usually hear from Minogue; and Australian producer/artist Sia who co-produced the whole album, and wrote the title track, which is perhaps the most immediately appealing.

Verdict:

Exactly what you'd expect from Kylie

- TimeOut