Kiss Me Once
Kiss Me Once is the twelfth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was released on 14 March 2014 by Parlophone, her first musical effort since her 2010 release Aphrodite. After celebrating her 25th career anniversary, Minogue signed with the American agency Roc Nation, which is managed by American rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z. Intending to create a different musical experience, Minogue and her agency enlisted a variety of producers and collaborators, including musicians Sia, MNEK, Pharrell Williams, and Tom Aspaul.
Musically, Kiss Me Once is a pop album that incorporates elements of dance music, electropop, R&B, dubstep, and disco. The album's lyrics cover a wide range of topics, including love, sex, empowerment, and having fun. Kiss Me Once received mixed-to-positive reviews from music critics, with many praising Minogue's personality and charm throughout the record. However, critics were divided on the album's content, production quality, and lyrics.
Commercially, Kiss Me Once debuted at number one in Australia and number two in the United Kingdom. Despite peaking in the top ten in several markets, sales were below expectations and moderately successful. Kiss Me Once yielded five singles: "Into the Blue", "I Was Gonna Cancel", "Sexercize", "Million Miles", and "Beautiful". The first two served as the album's official releases, performing moderately in commercial markets, while the latter three served as promotional singles.
To promote the album, Minogue went on her Kiss Me Once Tour between September 2014 and March 2015. The tour did well commercially, but concert reviewers gave it mixed reviews. On 23 March 2015, a live recording and video were shot and released. Retrospectively, Kiss Me Once was seen as a misstep in Minogue's career by publications and critics, due to its lack of commercial success and appeal to audiences. After leaving Roc Nation the following year, Minogue expressed reservations about the project.
Background
Minogue began a year-long celebration of her 25 years in the music industry in 2012, which became known as "K25". Her 20-minute medley performance at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in front of 15,000 people kicked off the anniversary on March 3. Two weeks later, Minogue embarked on the Anti Tour in Australia and the United Kingdom, which featured B-sides, demos, and rarities from her discography. She released the single "Timebomb" in May, followed by the greatest hits collection The Best of Kylie Minogue in June. In October, Minogue announced two new releases: the compilation album The Abbey Road Sessions, which includes reworked and orchestral versions of her previous songs recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios, and the K25 Time Capsule box set. and the K25 Time Capsule box set that contained 25 mini-CDs.Following the conclusion of her K25 celebrations, Minogue parted ways with her long-term manager Terry Blamey and his team, announcing a musical hiatus shortly after. She then announced on Instagram and Twitter in February 2013 that she had signed a management contract with American rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z's imprint Roc Nation. British publications reported on Minogue's involvement with new music, speculating that she had been working with Australian musician Sia, which Minogue confirmed. Minogue told the American magazine Rolling Stone in May 2013 that the album was "bringing out something different... which is cool". She also admitted that she needed to "do something different", but added that the album "will keep the DNA of what a Kylie track is, because I'm on it". I enjoy moving the goalposts and experimenting with different sounds."
Production and recording sessions
Minogue began initial sessions for the album in January 2012 in London and Los Angeles. From March to July, Minogue used Twitter to announce collaborations with Norwegian team Stargate, American producer Darkchild, American rapper Brooke Candy, MNDR, and American musician and producer will.i.am. On May 27, one day before her 45th birthday, Minogue teased an "interesting" collaboration, which was later revealed to be a duet with Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.In February 2014, Minogue confirmed Sia as the album's executive co-producer. Minogue stated in an interview with American website Idolator that "I got on with her so well... I asked her if she would executive-produce. I was hoping she would say yes. I didn't know if it was something she had done or was interested in, or if maybe she just preferred writing and doing her own music." That same month, she commented to American Billboard magazine; "I felt like I needed a new landscape, and once you've got your feet on the ground you're raring to go. So far the support has been great, and it's just another part of this amalgamation of 'new' that I had wished for and was struck by."
Minogue further collaborated with a number of songwriters and producers, including Sia, Cutfather, Greg Kurstin, Pharrell Williams, and MNEK. The majority of the album was recorded between Los Angeles and New York City, with additional recording and mixing done in London. In an interview with The Huffington Post, Minogue revealed that she and Furler had recorded several tracks for her previous album Aphrodite that did not make the final cut. Minogue recalled that the number of recordings was divided into "three albums" in "three genres": a "pure pop" album, a "dancy-urban" album, and an "indie" album. She also stated that she and Furler chose songs from each that they felt represented Kiss Me Once at the time. In terms of the recording process, she said, "Compared to my early days, I'm really comfortable in the studio." My leads, backing vocals, and harmonies are all recorded quickly. That makes me feel like a machine."
Music and content
Musically, Kiss Me Once is considered as Minogue's return to contemporary pop music. Tim Sendra, writing for AllMusic, categorised the album as "an intoxicating blend of uptempo dance tracks, funky club cuts, sexy midtempo jams, and the occasional ballad." NMEs Ben Cardew noted elements of contemporary R&B and dubstep in some of the tracks, including "Sexercize" and "If Only". Similarly, Kitty Empire from The Observer felt the album was "rooted" with R&B music and incorporated elements of funk, disco, and electronic dance music. With numerous collaborators helming the record, Minogue only contributed to writing one song on the record, this being "Fine".File:Pharrell Williams - Global Citizen Festival Hamburg 02.jpg|thumb|American artist Pharrell Williams helped create two tracks with Minogue, one of them being "I Was Gonna Cancel".
The album begins with "Into the Blue", a euphoric and melancholy-inspired dance-pop track that Minogue describes lyrically as an "escape". The second track, "Million Miles", has been described as an electropop song with a strong presence of guitar riffs and keyboard notes, similar to the work of Canadian music Dragonette. "I Was Gonna Cancel", the third track on the album. came about when she "burst into tears" during a recording session with American producer Pharrell Williams; Williams then composed the track inspired by Minogue's moment. Musically, it is an electro-funk track that was compared to Minogue's work from Body Language. "Sexy Love" was the first of three tracks on the album to represent sex, a recurring theme on the album; it is a disco-pop anthem that was compared to Minogue's 2008 single "Wow". "Sexercize", the album's fifth track, was another sex-inspired track that was noted for its influences of dubstep and brostep. The sixth track, "Feels So Good", is a cover song adapted from Tom Aspaul's demo track "Indiana", which is a mid-tempo electro number.
The seventh track on the album, "If Only", was noted as an R&B track with synths, handclaps, and a marching rhythm. The eighth song, "Les Sex", was described as a campy electro track that Minogue named her personal favourite from the album. The title track is a midtempo 1980s-inspired pop song that was praised for highlighting Minogue's more "romantic" side. The tenth song on the album is "Beautiful", a duet with Enrique Iglesias; it was recorded in Paris without Minogue having met Inglesias. "Beautiful", the album's only ballad, features an overuse of auto-tune and vocoder throughout both artists' vocal deliveries. The standard album concludes with "Fine", Minogue's only co-written song. "Fine" is described as an empowering anthem that incorporates electro and house music elements throughout its composition. The album's bonus tracks, "Mr. President" and "Sleeping with the Enemy", were described as electro entries; the former, co-written by Minogue, was described as "silly fun", with samples of Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" speech, and the latter as "dreamy" and "lush".
Packaging and release
The album artwork for Kiss Me Once was shot by English fashion stylist William Baker. Minogue revealed the album title and cover artwork on 24 January 2014, after a week of teasing on social media. Minogue closes her eyes and purses her red lips for a kiss in the artwork, and was photographed close-up behind a sheet of wet glass. In a 2014 Reddit AMA, Minogue says the "water represents tears, tears of joy, tears of happiness" and says "the album is so much about new beginnings." Robbie Daw of Idolator described it as "warm, colourful, and perfectly pop, while Mike Was off the same publication felt it leaves a strong visual impression and indicates Minogue has "really brought her inner-sex kitten" for the album. Seamus Duff of Metro viewed the artwork as a "silent plea to America to open the window and let her in".Kiss Me Once was made available for streaming in full on The Guardian's official website on March 10, a week before its UK release. Warner Music Group released the album for the first time on 14 March in Australia, New Zealand, and Germany. Three days later, the album was released in Europe and the United Kingdom in two versions: an 11-track standard version and a deluxe version with two bonus tracks, "Mr. President" and "Sleeping with the Enemy". Kiss Me Once was released in North America on 18 March, and in Japan a day later, with two bonus tracks: "Sparks" and a remix of "Into the Blue" by Japanese musician Yasutaka Nakata.
On 17 May, a special double-12-inch vinyl was released in Europe, complete with a bonus digital download code. Minogue's website also packaged a limited edition box set that included each physical format, a large cover art print, additional visual prints, a transparent glass screen that resembled the album cover, and stickers. On 8 December 2014, Parlophone and Warner Music Group re-released the album on the iTunes Store, including several live performances featuring Minogue at the iTunes Festival. In South Africa, "Sexy Love" is renamed "Love", "Sexercize" is renamed "Exercize", and "Les Sex" is renamed "We Could Call It".