Album Reviews

Kylie Minogue sure has come a long way since her days doin' "The Locomotion." The songstress is pretty much highly revered pop royalty in the UK, and she recently valiantly battled her way back from a debilitating bout with breast cancer. X is her tenth studio album, and it illustrates how Minogue has had a similar career trajectory to the almighty Madonna. That is, she can continue to reinvent herself and change with the times, rather than ever allowing herself to get stale or sound dated.

At the centerpiece of X is Minogue's breathy, if a little thin, voice, enticing you to her lair. The music is synthed-out, feel-good pop music that's not aspiring to change the world, only to make it a little more inhabitable and fun to dance, sing, work and live in. Minogue presents herself as a bona fide diva, and she doesn't scrimp on the sexy talk, either, delivering mini monologues here and there. "2 Hearts" and "Like A Drug" are back-to-back frothy celebrations of love and lust that kick off the album. They're followed by a succession of slick yet bumping, beat-driven numbers, like the dancefloor-primed "In My Arms," that despite their sheen, still have a bit of a pulse.

— Amy Sciarretto
04.08.08