Cruelty

The synthpop superstar's new single understands the  Barbie  assignment perfectly, delivering unadventurous plasticky pop that you can't help but dance to. Three summers since the disco-inflected pop masterwork  Future Nostalgia  propelled her to stratospheric stardom, Dua Lipa’s back for more. At the request of superproducer Mark Ronson and director-of-the-moment Greta Gerwig, ‘Dance The Night’ is the English-Albanian’s contribution to the soundtrack of the much-anticipated  Barbie  (out July 21; realistically  already  the movie of the summer). It’s clear what the brief was: “more of the same, please”. A riot of swooning strings, elastic bass and irresistible double handclaps (via ‘Levitating’!), ‘Dance The Night’ glistens with disco swagger. Dua teases ‘ Turn the rhythm up, don’t you wanna just / Come along for the ride? ’ , clearly revelling in the song’s groovy catwalk stomp. There’s an almost imperious coolness to the whole affair, bu...

It’s been an exciting few years to be a Kylie Minogue fan. After 2014’s Kiss Me Once represented something of a career lull, the 80-million-selling popstar reassessed and realigned, and her decision to sign with BMG Rights Management has sparked a veritable renaissance. Under this new label, 2018’s Golden and 2020’s Disco both topped the UK Albums Chart, sandwiching a career-spanning compilation album which repeated the feat. Even whilst forging a blazing trail through cultural history as the first female artist to score a UK Number One album in five consecutive decades, she’s still found time to launch a successful wine empire (try the Prosecco Rosé!) Onto the scene now bounces ‘Padam Padam’, the first offering from the upcoming Tension album (which releases Sept. 22). And it immediately signals another change in direction. Minogue’s last two albums are generally viewed as successful but unadventurous; Golden hopped onto the country-pop trend, with its successor enlisting...