Kylie Minogue is the highest-selling female Australian of all time, with over 80 million records sold worldwide, and the first female solo artist to have a number-one album in five different decades since the 1980s.
Her explosive comeback onto the music scene with her new single, Padam Padam, has broken records since its release on May 18th, 2023.
Inspired by the 1951 Édith Piaf song of the same name, Padam Padam has topped the UK Top 40, and it is the first hit of Kylie Minogue’s to reach number one on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart. Previous songs of hers to make the top 10 in this chart include Say Something (August 2020) and Marry The Night (June 2021), both of which only made it to number 3.
Whilst Padam Padam was targeted towards older audiences who typically make up the majority of Minogue’s listeners, this single took an unprecedented turn as it was blown up on TikTok, with the top three videos collecting over two million views. Gen Z has been posting dances and memes to the song, as well as debating the meaning of the title (which evokes a beating heart), and many have dubbed it to be the song of the summer. Its upbeat, disco style is popular amongst many, which is likely to be the reason why it is the lead single of Minogue’s 16th album, Tension.
Kylie sports a new look in the vivid music video for Padam Padam, with fans calling her a queen, and as youthful and beautiful as ever. She wears a variety of red hot outfits in the Padam Padam music video, the most prominent consisting of a coordinating hot red catsuit, sheer red cape, red leather gloves and red leather knee-high boots, complete with red lips and sparkling red eyeshadow.
Alongside debuting a new single, Kylie also debuted a fiery hair transformation in her appearance on the final episode of American Idol a few days later. With a brand new coppery blonde shade, the tips of her waves had been dyed a vibrant red in uneven blocks, matching the colour that dominates her Padam Padam music video.
The highly anticipated album, Tension, is set to be released on September 22nd, 2023. Composed of 11 songs, including Padam Padam and the previous release, 10 out of 10 with Oliver Heldens, Kylie Minogue claimed in an Instagram caption that the album is “a blend of personal reflection, club abandon and melancholic high”.
In a press release with Music Week, she also described the album as a record of “euphoric, empowered dance floor bangers and sultry pop cuts”
Kylie remarked, “I started this album with an open heart and a blank page. Unlike my last two albums there wasn’t a ‘theme’, it was about finding the heart or the fun or the fantasy of that moment and always trying to service the song.”
She then added: “The album is a mix of songs I have written and songs which really spoke to me. Making this album helped me navigate challenging times and celebrate the now. I hope it accompanies listeners on their own journeys and becomes part of their story.”
The pop icon produced and co-wrote seven of the tracks on the new album with her long-time collaborators, Biff Stannard and Duck Blackwell. Minogue expressed a love for being able to work alongside others as well as benefiting from remote recording in her mobile studio. This combination gave a unique experience to the album creation, which is sure to impact the sound and feel of the new record.
The track-list for Tension consists of the following:
1. Padam Padam
2. Hold On To Now
3. Things We Do For Love
4. Tension
5. One More Time
6. You Still Get Me High
7. Hands
8. Green Light
9. Vegas High
10. 10 Out Of 10 (with Oliver Heldens)
11. Story
Fans all over the world are buzzing with excitement ahead of the new album, and with the growing popularity of Padam Padam amongst the younger generations, this definitely won’t be a release to miss.
You can stream kylie's new single here: Kylie Minogue - Padam Padam (lnk.to)
