When your heart goes Padam, Padam

Australian queen of pop Kylie Minogue just released her 16th studio album, Tension. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has granted Minogue the title of highest-selling recording artist from Australia. A Rolling Stone article recognizes Minogue as having “Created some of the most timeless pop singles of all time and [leaving] an incredible influence on the likes of Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, Romy and countless other dance-floor doyennes.”

The album contains 14 tracks, three of which were pre-released singles; “Padam Padam,” “Tension” and “10 Out Of 10.” The opening track “Padam Padam,” was released in June and soared up the charts as a pop sellout of the summer. Following its release, the urban dictionary added a definition of ‘Padam’ as “an onomatopoeia for the sound a heartbeat makes when you’re a diva who’s slaying, coined by Kylie Minogue.”

The title track “Tension” is an electropop piece with hints of 1990s house. The song experiments with piano and vocal riffs that lead into a tempting beat drop with added synth and guitar. Minogue collaborated with Dutch artist Oliver Heldens on the third single “10 Out Of 10.” This song has a runway feel; one might strut to the spoken chorus, “Ten out of ten / body, ten / touch, ten / energy, ten.”

There is a German term, Sprechstimme, meaning “speech-voice.” Many modern artists incorporate a monotone yet melodic flow in their songs, creating a crossroad between speaking and singing. This style is distinct in the song “Hands,” a mid-tempo track with sprechstimme verses. Like many female empowering pop-songs, the lyrics are about pleasure and confidence, “Everything I do is so right, yeah / Barbie, I’m that cherry on top of the cake” and “You’re killing that, but I’m the queenin’ this / there ain’t no debate when I ride the beat.”

Minogue announced her Las Vegas concert residency alongside track nine, “Vegas High.” She will be performing 20 shows at The Venetian Resort on the Vegas Strip between November 2023 and May 2024. Vegas is the place to “Capture the magic and hold it in your hand / chasin’ that diamond on the horizon.”

The album closes with the song “Somebody To Love,” a dream pop story of going from “strangers to friends and to lovers.” Throughout the entirety of the album, energy is high. It is hard not to board Minogue’s “Love Train,” as she sings, “Baby, if you want somebody to love you / that someone is me.”