Edmonton Journal

Album: Kiss Me Once Artist: Kylie Minogue (Warner)

- Cris tina Jal er u , Associated Press

The latest offering from pop goddess Kylie Minogue is like a narcotic disco dream, slightly confused about the time-space continuum, yet very delightful. With her 12th studio album — her first after signing with Jay Z’s Roc Nation management—Minogue attempts to keep her crown in the dance kingdom — and succeeds — when she’s not trying too hard to upgrade to today’s trends. Australian wunderkind Sia, who has written for Rihanna, Beyonce and Britney Spears, co-executive produced this tiny gem of dance floor anthems and sex-crazed tunes. When three out of 11 tracks have the word “sex” in their titles, you know what the album is going for — the antechambe­r to the bedroom of music. Minogue excels on songs that are pure bubble gum fun.

The Pharrell-penned spring-in-one’s-step I Was Gonna Cancel, the vaguely familiar Sexy Love, the casually dance-inducing Feels So Good and the beguilingl­y ’80s throwback title track bring back a rash of dance memories from Minogue’s golden days circa 2001 with the addictive hits Can’t Get You Out of My Head and Love at First Sight. Sia’s writing contributi­on to the fun is the aggressive­ly erotic Sexercize, a bass-heavy baller of a song that slithers all over your ears and proves that Minogue can deftly rap. Another laid-back come-on is the enjoyable Les Sex. The bug in this sextra intoxicati­ng party cocktail is the misguided attempt at a ballad: an irritating duet with Enrique Iglesias’ computer-flavoured vocals on Beautiful. Just stick to what you do best, kids, separately. You can’t force love on a player of an album.

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