“Kylie Minogue 'Tension II' review: Deliciously low-calorie dance-pop”

If Kylie Minogues Tension created its, well, tension from its fluctuations between driving electro-pop and airy synth-pop, the album's sequel, Tension IIis fully committed to the former. “Padam Padam” is a direct influence here, with the seductive, undulating synths and robotic vocal hooks of tracks like “Kiss Bang Bang” and “Hello,” an outtake from the original sessions that clearly owes a debt to this sleeper hit is Tension.

The new album that could easily have been called More tensionis Minogue's most shameless collection of dance-pop songs since 2010 Aphrodite– maybe even 2001 Fever. Admirably, the Australian pop singer has never before attempted to emulate that album's global hit, “Can't Get You Out of My Head,” but the frothy “Diamonds,” with its relentless bassline and catchy vocals, is a valiant attempt. Elsewhere, the rollicking bass and string sample of “Taboo” recalls another rousing early-century club anthem: Madonna’s “Hung Up.”

Lyrical, Tension II focuses largely on themes of fun, flirting and fashion (try this every time Minogue mentions a high-end label like YSL or Birkin). She pines for a friend's lover on the standout “Someone for Me” and makes an unapologetic booty call on “Hello”: “Hello, I'm at your door/I know you're awake/Yes, it is.” just before four/Let me.” In.”

But lest you think the album is just low-calorie dance-pop, Minogue delivers her most heartbreaking kiss yet on “Good as Gone”: “I love the way I look ripped from your arms/Who would that for.” Would you like to think of a loss as much fun?” Paired with a deliciously wobbly bassline and live disco strings, the track is a more than worthy addition to the lineage of the mother of all breakup songs: Gloria Gaynor's “I Will Survive.”

Minogue had originally planned to repackage it Tension with a handful of bonus tracks, including previously released duets with Sia (the repetitive “Dance Alone”) and Orville Peck (the country-infused “Midnight Ride”). Unfortunately, these songs feel like part of an otherwise cohesive set. The exception is the positively electrifying “Edge of Saturday Night,” a collaboration with Blessed Madonna, which features a massive piano hook and a breathless bridge that any pop girl half Minogue's age would kill for . For example, swap it out for “Dance to the Music,” which is about as generic as the title suggests, and Tension II would be an even stronger album than its predecessor.