Kylie - Tension (Album XVI)

10/10?


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once again whoever designs her actual album artwork when there's so much great imagery to choose from should be FIRED WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT!
 
I personally love them both but I guess judging by what Kylie says in her track by track, you have to blame Jamie Nelson for their inclusion, particularly Hands. I did find his advice to Kylie about not writing anything "boring" for the record, quite pointed.
 
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I need to give it another few listens. I'm liking the experience but not much is STICKING OUT quite yet. Other than "Hands" for obvious reasons.
 
The studio-stoned close of the deceptively gentle Minogue raveup Hold On To Now really stakes the album's claim of unprecedented levels of Kylie spleandour and transcendent summits. The most subliminal, spaced out sensation I think she's delivered since the title track of Light Years. So utterly exalting. I'm so moved by Kylie right now.
 
The studio-stoned close of the deceptively gentle Minogue raveup Hold On To Now really stakes the album's claim of unprecedented levels of Kylie spleandour and transcendent summits. The most subliminal, spaced out sensation I think she's delivered since the title track of Light Years. So utterly exalting. I'm so moved by Kylie right now.
as a copywriter I'm moved by the decadent lexicon on display here! :disco:
 
... you have to blame Jamie Nelson for their inclusion, particularly Hands. I did find his advice to Kylie about not writing anything "boring" for the record, quite pointed.
where was this claimed? what was the context?
 
I think I'm going to edit Love Train out of my album playlist. I really don't think it's BAD at all (currently a 7), but when it kicks in after a run of 11 nines or tens (and indeed elevens, thirteens and seventeens) it takes me out of the moment. And Just Imagine works much better directly after Story.
 
if there’s a tour I predict a 90 second ‘Love Train’ interlude meshing into an extended ‘Locomotion’ performance.
 
"We all had this sensation that it was a special time. "Tension" and "Things We Do For Love" were written on the same day"

:disco: :disco: :disco:
 
two cents from me:

padam padam - it felt novelty from the get go and it wore quickly, but to its benefit it sounds like it was always there and it did its job. my biggest issue are the lyrics - i can take champagne temperature updates but lines like "wanna see what's underneath that t-shirt" really make me cringe, spoiler alert: there's tits. the scenes of the video in the chair are great, the coffee shop ones are dread. love the haai remix

hold on to now - a big beautiful kylie number, with lots of 80s, what is not to love. i get the robyn references even if it is the ideological opposite to honey's clean, sparse production. if i had to nitpick i'd say it feels a bit overdone here and there but then it's not a less is more song. my favourite bit on the whole album is probably the outro - truly sublime and to her credit even though she's not "on it" it sounds so kylie - like they distilled the magic of say something into a few seconds

things we do for love - this is the one i've listened to the most. it took about 10 listens for me to be able to hum and i still have no idea what most of the lyrics are but it's my early favourite - the joyousness and energy, so quintessentially kylie. that wordy finale reminds me of something so bad what is it?? also: this is my favourite "video" of hers in ages - she feels so relaxed and in her element, she looks glorious, the moves are simple and on point, the outfit is perfect, the hair is right (eddie!), the backlights are lovely, it's a big bright hey! hey! yes!

tension - the most "trendy" dance track of the bunch, it sounds like a ton of songs but i like. find the pre- and actual chorus a tad lacking until the whoop ushering in the final chorus when it all finally comes together so marvellously. the verses always make me think of waka waka - i had to check notes for kula soh bebeh (kula soh bebeh!), yeah i enjoy the silliness. hate the video - yes it's funny and camp and showgirl kylie is her g-spot (guffaw-spot), but it's also awful outifts, awful wigs, the backgrounds and the layering look broke cheap.

one more time - this sounds like a disco song, it's nice but a step down.

you still get me high - enjoyable but not a favourite. it reminds me of goldfrapp's head first (my least favourite of their albums) - i guess it's the big 80s aplomb and the oh oh oh-ing. not the only one too.

hands - r&b-lite filler. and who the hell is singing half the song???

green light - another dud. also sounds like a disco leftover. it's reductive, yes the sax too. the visual is the worst of the bunch.

vegas high - this is the one i woke up with in my head today. i don't find this as cynical as most, i mean she's selling padam undergarments. what mildly irritates me again are the trite lyrics (apart from make my eyes roll back / when i feel that vegas high - that hits just the spot) and that she goes a bit overboard with the i-i-i-i-i bits but i absolutely love it from the middle 8 onwards... that final minute is another contender for favourite part of the album. but then it cuts off too quickly! we're getting an extended edition i hope. and this is definitely going to be a single is it not?

story - one of my favourites as well. it's nice to hear her using her higher register so much. the chorus is tight as a spring and it simply flutters. no idea what she's singing apart from the klunky "you're part of the (my?) story". reminded me of her doing there must be an angel

love train
- ok this is super stupid but i quite like. the beat is fun and she hits the tone just right vocally, it's nice to hear her sound so loose

just imagine - this washes over me, i mean all the elements are fine but it just doesn't come together, especially in the context of the rest

somebody to love - it's nice and certainly should be on the main album over a few others but i'm not loving it (yet), it's a very familiar song and i'm not sure i love la voix, particularly the meeeee bit

***

10 out of 10 - this doesn't feature on the youtube album playlist so i'm chosing to ignore it being part of the album. i mean it's ok for a feature you never need to hear again but putting it on the album is baffling (to me). that said, have they polished it a bit?

***

all in all a strong set of songs. my favourites, unsurprisingly, are the 80s nods. cut it down to 10 tracks, get rid of 10 out of 10, hands and green light. add somebody to love and love train and you've got an airtight record.

as for the tracklisting, it looks blatantly frontloaded for streaming, does it not?

ps i don't like the cover artwork, i appreciate the aesthetic but that's as far as i'll go. that diamond really opposite-of-elevates it and (as with the fucking atrocious disco cover artwork) it seems she had much better to choose from.
 
Pinched from Say Hey:

Midweeks
1 (NEW) Tension
Sales: 40,301
Yesterday: 4,601
CD: 16,564
Digital: 2,849
Streaming: 1,675 (not great)
LP: 15,365

Doja Cat no3 on 2,641 sales
 
so she did 4.6k yesterday - a bunch of vinyls were added to the online store today so she can probably do 5k/day x4 = first week of around 58-60k?
 
More CDs than vinyl? INTERESTING. The lure of extra tracks?
 
It feels like Disco was one of the first yo be ridiculously overformatted, though.

I see she’s just released a new digital edition with two bonus tracks too :D
 
THEY ALL DO IT.

No "they" don't! I guess if you're used to the pop market place, I can see why you'd think so but as someone who doesn't usually need to negotiate anything other than the occasional coloured vinyl variant, this stuff seems NUTS to me.
 
I see Taylor had 20 variants of Midnights and you could argue that she needs the overformatting far less.
 
Not that I'm in any way justifying it, I just find the energy a bit strange when this is regularly used as a stick to beat Kylie with when there are others, primarily in pop, who are doing much the same.

I'm happy with my one copy (normally) but if others are comfortable splashing their cash, who am I to judge?
 
Not that I'm in any way justifying it, I just find the energy a bit strange when this is regularly used as a stick to beat Kylie with when there are others, primarily in pop, who are doing much the same.

I'm happy with my one copy (normally) but if others are comfortable splashing their cash, who am I to judge?

Taylor aside, who else can you name?
 
I've complained about Swift doing this on Moopy as well.
 
I bet it's less than half the formats Abba Voyage had.

To some extent I think (or at least thought) it's a farce, but then streaming long since made the chart a work of fiction anyway. And even if the total sold isn't a reflection of the number of people buying it, it is still a reflection of the number of copies people were willing/stupid enough to buy.
 
The charts are largely CURATED by Spotify and that's before we get into the likely PAYOLA that takes place behind the scenes for playlisting.
 
A band like Steps with seemingly no other business ventures would surely fold without multiple physicals to help bolster sales.
 

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