If we’ve learned one thing from analysing pop culture, it’s this: never ever write off Kylie. Ever. The Australian queen’s return to chart dominance with ‘Padam Padam’ was both unexpected and sort of inevitable, with the indefatigable singer well overdue some form of renaissance. And so it proved: Kylie returned to lay waste to the Top 40, with her ‘Tension’ project quickly following suit.
Adapting to the landscape around her, Kylie has shifted from TikTok enabled ear-worm – ‘Padam Padam’ – to continual content. ‘Tension II’ was initially intended as a Deluxe Edition, before being hived off into its own, standalone, release.
Regardless of the methods behind it, ‘Tension II’ is vintage Kylie. ‘Lights Camera Action’ is a deliciously frothy opener, while the ABBA-adjacent ‘Taboo’ is sublime – a dose of clap-along musical theatre coupled to a delectable Kylie vocal. Truly, nobody does it better.
‘Tension II’ leans on the club energies of the original, while steering them into different places. ‘Good As Gone’ sits up there with the best of Kylie’s disco bangers, while ‘Kiss Bang Bang’ is a riveting piece of pop seduction.
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It’s not all fireworks, light, and noise, however; ‘Shoulda Left Ya’ brims with emotion, the sound of regret, and realisations that come too late.
As a piece, however, ‘Tension II’ is embedded in Kylie’s more up-front pop tendencies. That’s no bad thing – she’s the best around, after all – but it does make the project feel a little slim in places. ‘Hello’ is fun, but doesn’t quite stand out against its illustrious company, while ‘Dance To The Music’ offers disco deviance, while becoming a tad repetitive.
But perhaps that’s churlish. After all, it’s still one of life’s real joys to hear Kylie cut loose and simply enjoy herself – soaring back to the pinnacle of pop culture, where she truly belongs.
7/10
Words: Robin Murray
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