Melancholy can be a happy place

Kylie Minogue, the legendary Australian singer, songwriter, and actress, recently released her sixteenth album, Tension. In an interview with Numéro, she discussed her new album, her recording process, and her longevity in the music industry.

A New Album Without a Central Theme

Unlike her previous albums, which had a clearly defined theme and sound, Tension is a dance, house, synthpop, and electro opus tinged with the muggy atmosphere of nightclubs. Kylie approached this new album like a white beach, without any definite theme. Creating Tension has given her a deep sense of freedom. It was great to make an album without a real central theme and it helped her get through difficult times and celebrate the present moment.

Melancholy Can Be a Happy Place

Kylie’s hit song Padam Padam, from her new album, has been astoundingly successful, entering a digital dictionary, being quoted by an MP at the British Parliament, and becoming a TikTok trend. The song has implicit sexual connotations, but even 10-year-olds and 15-year-olds are picking it up on TikTok and dancing to it. Kylie believes that melancholy can be a happy place. There are a lot of songs in her repertoire that mix sadness and joy at once. These are songs that seem tailor-made for dancing but contain lots of different feelings beneath the surface.

Adaptable and Versatile

Kylie feels that she is naturally versatile. She likes to be adaptable and to transform herself. Maybe that’s why she’s been able to navigate through different musical genres. She loves recording on her own at home, in hotels, on coffee tables where she plugs in cables, crawling around and trying not to make any mistakes. It’s the opposite of glamorous, but it’s something she loves doing on her own now. It offers her so much, not just in terms of ownership of her creations, but because it gives her a better understanding of what she’s doing and how she can explore her voice and her relationship with a microphone.

Kylie Minogue is a legendary musical icon who never stops reinventing herself. Her sixteenth album, Tension, is a dance, house, synthpop, and electro opus tinged with the muggy atmosphere of nightclubs. Kylie believes that melancholy can be a happy place and that she is naturally versatile. She likes to be adaptable and to transform herself. Maybe that’s why she’s been able to navigate through different musical genres.