Body language --- Kylie Minogue --- 2003 (Parlophone)
Last time I reviewed a Kylie album it was her current one, “Aphrodite”, and I was extremely disappointed with how far from what I had hoped it would be it fell. Kylie has changed her sound, or more correctly, reverted her sound to that which made her name in the early eighties, namely disco, dance and pop music, and there was little of the innovator I had come to admire in the new album. But I still love her, so I'm going to have a stab at what I would consider a more well-rounded (no smutty jokes, please!) release by her, “Body language”.
I know some of the songs off this album, having watched her in concert and also seen the videos on TV at the time the album was out, so I am confident that there will be at least a few good tracks. Whether the rest of the album will measure up to the quality of what were, I guess, the singles, is a question I now intend to get an answer to, but one thing is for certain: it has to be better than “Aphrodite”!
It gets going with one of the best tracks, the sultry, sexy “Slow”. With its low bassline and warbling keys it's almost addictive, Kylie's breathy vocal suiting the song perfectly. An understated song, it's possibly a strange choice for an opener, maybe even for a single, but Kylie's voice sells it and it becomes a real prayer to burning passion. One of only four on the album on which Kylie has input to the writing, it was, as it happens, exceptionally successful as a single, charging to number one, while the other singles from the album also each made it into the top ten. “Still standing” is another slow song, though not a ballad, with a solid beat and certainly more dancy than “Slow”, but even so not an out-and-out dance track. It's quite restrained, not exactly in the same way its predecessor was, but lots of clever work on synth and drum machines ensures the song stands out, but doesn't overpower you. Again, it is as ever Kylie's sultry, almost whispery in places voice that provides the most effective vehicle for the song.
Kylie has been known for using literally bunches of producers on her albums (I think I remember “Aphrodite” has something like nineteen!) and here again she uses different producers on nearly every track, but I don't think I ever recall nine people being involved in the
writing of a song. That however is the case with “Secret (Take you home)”, more a dance number than either of the previous two, but still mid-paced with lots of synth and fiddly guitar going on. Good backing vocals, another of Kylie's hallmarks, and something of a rap, which frankly I could have done without, presumably from Ms. Dynamite, who is credited as one of the nine writers.
“Promises” sounds more like something from the likes of “Light years”, very dancefloor, grungy bass, stabbing synth and what sounds like guitar synth, with Kylie singing at her brightest and most cheerful. Of the songs so far, this is the most uptempo, and it's followed by “Sweet music”, the next song on which Kylie has a writing credit. It's more bass-led mid-tempo dance with some nice keyboard runs, very funky, where I wonder if Kylie is paying a small nod of appreciation and memory to her late lover, Michael Hutchence, when she namechecks INXS's “New sensation”.
Two big singles follow next, the first being the excellent “Red-blooded woman”, which we all remember for the image of Kylie in that sexy red dress! It's a great little song, very catchy and with a clever little vocal line, Kylie back to her best as sultry vixen refusing to take no for an answer as she sings
”I'm a red-blooded woman/What's the point of hanging round?” I find the melody more than a little reminiscent in places of Coolio's “Gangsta paradise”, but it's a good contender for standout of the album, except I've probably already awarded that prize to opener “Slow”.
It's nice though to see that, unlike on her current release, here Kylie keeps the fast disco/dance numbers to a minimum, and the overall feeling I get from the album is (so far) slow, sultry and yeah, it's kind of like making love. No need to rush it, take your time and enjoy it. “Chocolate”, the last single on the album, reinforces this to the max, as Kylie turns the sexy siren image up to ten, and just sinks into a blissful cloud of indulgence and passion. If you're not turned on by this you must be dead: it's the closest you can get to having sex within a song. This is the voice that launched a thousand fantasies, and it's sounding in perfect shape, as indeed is her body, judging from the sleeve!
It's easy (and very nice) to sink into the arms of Kylie's voice and just let yourself be drowned in that lovely ocean, and “Chocolate” does indeed do its best to drag you in and pull you down, and no-one would blame you if you stayed there, but your reviewer has a job to do, and another five tracks to go, so reluctantly I resist the siren song and push the tiller hard to port, heading away from that lovely, entrancing voice and the delights promised by her, and towards the next track up.
Phew! In need of a cold shower, I find “Obsession” to be a little less sexy, though not that much! It's a slightly faster song, though as yet there are still no out-and-out dancefloor numbers --- not for the fast set, at any rate. Nice bass and some tinkly piano carry this song, but you almost ignore them, concentrating only on Kylie's sultry voice, and the angel draws you back in with “I feel for you”, which opens with the sounds of thunder and falling rain (just the thing needed after all the hot and heavy action that has been going on up to now!) and becomes a fairly straight disco type song. I thought it might have been a cover of the old Rufus and Chaka Khan number, but though it bears some resemblance to that disco classic in the chorus, it's a different song. I must say, the shouted backing vocal in the verses really annoys me, very jarring and I don't feel it adds anything to the song at all. Not sure who she is, but I wish she'd have kept her mouth shut. Her interference, as I see it, makes this the first weak track on the album, but then, we're nearly through, so that's not bad really.
Kylie's next songwriting contribution comes on “Someday”, a slow, reggae style with pulsing bass and nice bright keyboards that for some reason gives me the impression of ELO, which I'm sure they won't appreciate. Nice song though, if a little simple. Actually, the simplicity of the melody works in the song's favour, and it's one you can just kind of relax to. Also shades of Lighthouse Family about it, very laidback, very cool. She also helps write the next track, a nice little ballad called “Loving days” with an interesting mix of 90s and 70s about it. Very effective string section provided by the London Session Orchestra, with some nicely restrained guitar help to craft a really lush little song, with Kylie back to singing like a siren yearning for love.
Closer “After dark” is kind of mid-paced funk, a lot of the old seventies Motown sound in it: you could nearly hear the Jacksons singing this. It's not bad, but a far weaker closer than “Loving days” would have been, and I think it's maybe one track too many.
“Body language” promises a lot from its cover, and in general the album delivers on that promise. It never really rises to the tempo of “Light years” or even “Impossible princess”; there are no totally dancy numbers on it, and most of the tracks are, if not slow, at least quite laidback. It is, however, a better album for this difference to her other outings. It's not an album you would put on at a party (I hear people have them?), except maybe for the slow dances. It's more an album you listen to with the lights out, maybe in the company of someone special, and just let it wash over you.
That's the only thing you can do with this album. You don't so much listen to it as breathe it in, and let it swirl around inside you, making you feel all fuzzy and warm and relaxed. It is, in a phrase, sex on a disc, but never so in-your-face that it gets tacky or inappropriate. Tasteful, elegant, sultry and erotic, on this album Kylie is the classy call-girl compared to the twenty-dollar hooker you get with the likes of Rhianna (no, I know: I
don't like her!) --- satisfaction is guaranteed.
TRACKLISTING
1. Slow
2. Still standing
3. Secret (Take you home)
4. Promises
5. Sweet music
6. Red blooded woman
7. Chocolate
8. Obsession
9. I feel for you
10. Someday
11. Loving days
12. After dark