Kylie Minogue, Tension II review: Bolder, tougher and more inventive than its party-starting predecessor

Aussie star enlists a coterie of collabators to whip up a second helping of delicious pop nuggets

‘Tension II’ may be made up of offcuts from last year’s album – but nothing about this record is second best (Charlotte Rutherford)

“Meet me at the disco-go-go-go…” beckons Kylie on her 17th album, Tension II. Although she has said these 13 tracks are mostly offcuts from last year’s Tension, there’s zero drop in quality as pop’s flirtiest little glitter fairy keeps magicking up the dance floor delights. In fact, this is one of those times where the sequel occasionally outdoes the original: Tension II feels bolder, tougher and more inventive than its predecessor, while still flowing directly from the same fun and fizzy vibe. Kylie sounds like a woman a few shots into the party, totally owning her place in the middle of the dance floor, pulling a giddy guest list of producers and duet partners from their seats to whoop it up in her spotlight.

Next year, Minogue will be touring for the first time since 2019, so we shouldn’t be surprised to hear her building up to a boogie. Tension II opens with a banger of a show opener: “Lights Camera, Action” springs from an anticipatory little synth riff as the 56-year-old teases, “I’m right around the corner now/ I’m two seconds away/ Hold tight, I’m about to arrive…” Her shimmer-spritz of a voice is totally assured as she offers a soundtrack to anybody getting dressed for a big night out: “I look stellar tonight/ My armour is by Gaultier … we’re turning sinful tonight.”

Interviewed by NME last month, Minogue singled out the song “Taboo” as one of her favourites on this record, describing it as a “distant cousin of Britney Spears’s ‘Toxic’”. Retro disco strings rise from a submerged place in the mix (like those on Madonna’s “Hung Up”) to carry the drama. Violins that could have bopped in (shirtless and in platform shoes) from an early Eighties Boney M recording session soar and swoop through an EDM pulse as Minogue breathes: “One drink? I know I shouldn’t but I just can’t help myself … un, deux, trois.”

The woman whose Noughties renaissance was driven by a song on which she simply pouted “laaa-laa-laa” (“Can’t Get You Out of My Head”, 2001) rebooted herself for a whole new generation with more nonsense syllables on last year’s “Padam Padam” – she continues the trick here. Her love is not just “taboo” but “Taboo- do-doo, do-dooo”. Nobody does blase better. Over a synth hook that could have been the theme tune to a late-Seventies cop show, “Diamond” sees her paying tribute to a lover who’s a “star-ah-ah-ah, no matter where you are-ah-ah-ah”. Meanwhile, “Good as Gone” bounces from a beat as hard as a squash ball; “Someone for Me” toys with an Ibizan vibe; “Dance to the Music” struts its stuff to a Dua Lipa-style bass line.

Things slow down a little at the ninth track, on which Minogue delivers a gorgeously heartbroken slow dance with “Shoulda Left Ya”. You can practically hear the wind machine blowing her curls as she laments: “Whenever I hear the music, I’m back in the room.” But Tension II ramps back up at the end with a series of collabs pumping out like a hi-energy encore. There’s the thudding Nineties house of “Edge of Saturday Night” (with The Blessed Madonna); the more forgettable “My Oh My” (with Bebe Rexha and Tove Lo) and castanet-flecked cowboy camp on “Midnight Ride” (with Orville Peck and Diplo) where Peck’s rich baritone provides a terrific contrast.

She closes the album with “Dance Alone” (with Sia). The two Aussie pop queens – both survivors in different ways – dive into a pool of experimentally wonky vocoders before throwing themselves into some 4/4 shapes beneath the mirror ball: “I am not afraid/ I know I’ll be OK/ There’s nothing you can say.” Minogue sounds terrifically cool and confident – blissed out in her natural habitat of sequins and strobes. Tension 2025 should be a blast of a tour.