It would be the biggest understatement of the year to say that 2020 hasn’t been challenging for everyone. Whether you’re a student stuck in your flat or a lecturer teaching through Zoom, this second lockdown has hit hard. One thing that has persisted, despite all the upheaval, is music. Music has been, and still is, the panacea that has kept me smiling through these difficult times. 2020 has also revived disco to everyone’s ears. From Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia and Jessie Ware’s What’s Your Pleasure?, we’ve been treated to plenty of 80’s influenced hits perfect for the dancefloor. DISCO by Kylie Minogue is no different. 

Music has been, and still is, the panacea that has kept me smiling through these difficult times

DISCO does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s disco for the modern era: a start-to-finish high-tempo frenzy of keyboard basslines, electric guitar harmonies and synths. Coupled with Kylie’s contagious positivity and energy, it’s enough to cheer up the gloomiest of November days. Initially writing and recording her 15th studio album in a makeshift studio on GarageBand during the first lockdown, there’s no wonder that the central theme of the album is escapism. Even if you can’t ‘get that body up on the dancefloor’, like Kylie croons on ‘Miss a Thing’, DISCO will definitely inspire you to push back the sofas, dim the lights, fish out that sequin dress that you haven’t worn since the clubs shut and make you jive the night away. 

Opening with the single ‘Magic’, it doesn’t take long before you’re up on your feet dancing carelessly. Minogue’s silky and sensuous voice over an entrancing beat is an enchanting experience. It really is magic how effortlessly the chorus coaxes you to sing along and to feel alive. Now you know that you’re locked into a non-stop hour-long danceathon. From the first word “dance” of the next track ‘Miss a Thing’, the sultriness of her voice implores you to continue swaying and to float away to the amorous lyrics. I can definitely picture myself dancing with a stranger to “Come dance for me, I’ll fall at your feet” in the heat and mist of a gay nightclub (in a non-COVID world ideally). ‘Real Groove’ serves as a cute and catchy third track to keep you moving and, well, grooving. The key lyric of the chorus “got that perfect body but she ain’t the moves” has the tongue-in-cheek charm that is so characteristic of Kylie. That’s what so many people love about her: she has always had that irrepresible buoyancy to counter the toughest of times, such as her battle with breast cancer, which translates itself into the most joyous of club anthems.

If you were already tired of dancing gleefully then you might want to sit this next track out. ‘Monday Blues’ is an interminable explosion of elation. The campy lyric “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, it’s the weekend” borders on sounding like a preschool tune, but was able to shock the Lockdown Blues out of my system. Another track that oozes energy is ‘Supernova’. Quite literally, it’s a supernova of rapid-fire space references, robotic autotune and synth riffs. Both of these tracks oversell the disco aspect and intensity of the album, however, as they’re at its heart, they’re needed to keep the disco fever alive.

Both of these tracks oversell the disco aspect and intensity of the album, however, … they’re needed to keep the disco fever alive

The lead single for the album ‘Say Something’ is a breather. Greeted by Kylie’s signature “woah”s, the track bleeds dreamy optimism. The first lyric ‘We’re a million miles apart in a thousand ways’ encapsulates what 2020 has been like as with the overall message of the album – no matter where we are, we can continue to dance our problems away. Now, Kylie isn’t the first artist this year to have this theme in their project; Lady Gaga’s Chromatica and Katy Perry’s Smile suggested how artists can’t let adversity get in the way of them releasing their art and how they should actually use this to fuel their songwriting. This similarity doesn’t hinder my perception of the album though, as with it also being influenced by the current phenomenon of disco, it implies how in tune with reality Kylie is as an artist, despite DISCO being her 15th studio album.

I couldn’t review this album without including my personal favourite track. ‘Where Does the DJ Go?’ initially guises itself as a ballad with a piano intro, but suddenly a funky tempo thumps in. This track is probably the most disco-esque as it’s overladen with perfectly timed record scratches and claps, as well as cranking the grooviness of the album up a notch. As the final track chimes in, the disco aspect is turned down and a warm and festive feeling is turned up. ‘Celebrate You’ just screams Christmas party banger. The lyric ‘everything I like about myself is better with you’ ends the album on an undeniably romantic and a self-empowering note. It sums up how this album is meant to unite us even when we’re part. 

I felt connected to the thousands of Kylie fans who had also tuned in to enjoy an hour of endless disco bops

This theme was further explored in Kylie’s pre-recorded livestream ‘Infinite Disco’ last Saturday night. Despite watching alone on my laptop, I felt connected to the thousands of Kylie fans who had also tuned in to enjoy an hour of endless disco bops. The performance had the theatricality of a dancefloor. As the camera zoomed into Minogue dressed in an iridescent black cloak, she suddenly revealed a gold metallic jumpsuit that sparkled seamlessly in the stage lights. Accompanied by a troupe of dancers showing off their most 80’s inspired dance moves on a light-up multi-coloured chequered stage, Kylie brought disco to life in an aural and visual explosion of glitz and glamour. She even disco-fied some of her best known numbers, including ‘In Your Eyes’, ‘Slow’ and ‘All the Lovers’ to diversify the setlist and to add an element of freshness to her performance. It was definitely the brightness and irrepressible jubilation we need to experience now more than ever.

Kylie unmistakably achieved her aim of wanting to to create an album of pure disco tracks, but at times it was too intense, even for a flaming homosexual like me. Not only has Kylie managed to inject the world with much-needed positivity and turned thousands of bedrooms into nightclubs, she has also become the first female artist to top the UK in 5 consecutive decades thanks to the success of ‘DISCO’. All I can say to that is “wow, wow, wow, wow”.

Rating: 7.5/10

DISCO is available now via Kylie Minogue

---

You Might Also Like:

Album Review: Neil Cicierega – Mouth Dreams
Album Review: Ashton Irwin – Superbloom
Album Review: Sufjan Stevens – The Ascension
Single Review: Pixies – Hear Me Out / Mambo Sun