HERE COME THE ALIENS
Released 2018 Label Wildeflower Chart Positions UK No.21 SWI No.10
Whether you believe Kim’s tale of seeing a UFO in her Hertfordshire back garden or not, it still inspired her first UK album chart entry in 26 years, a return to the RAK Studios where it all began and unarguably the most striking cover art of her career.
A throwback to the Ed Wood-esque B-movies of the 1950s, Here Come The Aliens’ sleeve artwork was designed by niece Scarlett, with songwriting contributions from younger sister Roxanne – herself a pop star in short-lived noughties band Dimestars – further extending the family connections.
Produced solely by Ricky, too, Kim’s 14th studio effort initially sticks to the extra-terrestrial theme, with the electro-glam of opener 1969 hinting that aliens may, in fact, be our saviour when the apocalypse comes. The gorgeously dreamy closer Rosetta, meanwhile, finds Kim pondering the purpose of mankind (“Tell us from where we’ve come and who we are/ Are we the dust of a distant star?”) alongside the pixie-like tones of Swedish songstress Frida Sundemo.
But the overall concept soon makes way for other concerning issues: online trolling on the ominous Cyber.Nation.War (“Your cowardly malicious lies/ Cause only devastation to everybody’s lives”), for example, or the tragic teenage pact that adds Solstice to
Kim’s slightly alarming catalogue of suicide anthems. While the subject matter often screams danger, Here Come The Aliens’ sound is largely of a perkier nature. Following a Video Killed The Radio Star-esque intro, Pop Don’t Stop evolves into the type of skirt-ripping bubblegum tune that would once have killed at Eurovision. New Wave throwback Birthday is every bit as celebratory as its title indicates, while there are echoes of Daft Punk’s joyous Get Lucky in the fretless bass disco of Yours ‘Til The End.
Let’s hope that talk of a 15th album comes to fruition – new duets with Boy George and Tom Aspaul on 2021’s exhaustive hits collection suggest Kim still has plenty of pop gems left in her.
It will certainly be worth the wait if it’s even half as strong as this second chapter peak.
WHILE
THE SUBJECT MATTER OFTEN SCREAMS DANGER, HERE COME THE ALIENS’ SOUND IS OF A PERKIER NATURE