Kylie Kills ‘Em With Retro-Activity

What is this most recent trend in music that harkens back to New Wave sounds with their clicks, pops, and repetitive synthesizers? Kylie Minogue might be able to tell you, as the native Aussie sensation uses the style prominently on her new album: Body Language.While groups like Ladytron are bringing back the synth sounds with a modicum of stiff retro flair, Minogue at least adds her seasoned pop vocal stylings to tracks like “Slow.” Luckily the style is not all-pervasive. However, it would be unfair to say that Minogue sounds like Janet Jackson on “Sweet,” like Britney Spears on “Red Blooded Woman,” and like Madonna on “Still Standing,” especially considering that other than Madonna, Minogue is the only artist to have a number one hit single in the eighties, nineties, and “noughties.” With a career spanning 16 years and 30 U.K. top hit singles, most in the top 10 and the rest in the top 20, it’s more likely Minogue has influenced artists like Spears than the other way around. With this in mind, perhaps we will soon be hearing the subdued New Wave sound in future releases of artists like Spears and Madonna.

With its disco extravaganza feel, 90s pop vocals and retro experimentalism, Minogue has certainly released another hit album for Australia, Europe and the U.K. Whether America receives it so well is another question. With such popularity in the aforementioned areas, Minogue has no need to appeal to American audiences. And though we may hear Spears one day soon singing emphatically over a Ladytronesque synth tune, perhaps it will be forgotten that it originates from another well-established pop diva across the world.