Darenote
Pop, 2020

Kylie Minogue fell back onto disco nostalgia once before to revive her career, so it’s a safe move to go back to that Plan B with Disco after getting experimental one time too many. That’s the word to describe this album: safe. Safe tends to be boring and bland, and unfortunately, that is what this album is.

Sure, the lead single Say Something has an interesting vibe in the beginning, and it’s one of the very few songs here that seem to have more than a few random thoughts put into it. Still, upon closer listening, I feel that the verse, bridge, and chorus all feel like they belong to different songs instead of coming together cohesively. Besides, if I want a soothing anthem for people coming together to have an orgy, there is already All the Lovers. This one feels like a try hard in comparison.

The other halfway decent songs are the by-the-numbers disco anthems Dance Floor Darling, I Love It, and Where Does the DJ Go? but honestly, these songs feel so generic that they could have been performed any artist. There is nothing here that stands out. Disco tunes tend to be campy and fun, but the songs here feel like they are generated by some software based on some kind of algorithms to result in some of the most run-of-the-mill dance tunes ever.

Sadly, Disco is at the end of the day an unnecessary album. Fever is twenty years old but sounds far more interesting, fresh, and fun than anything on this album. Go listen to that one for Disco Kylie. This one is more for dance nights at some senior homes, with music guaranteed to make those events seem like a party, but not too much of a party so that nobody will come close to being excited enough that they may break a hip and die.