Kylie Minogue Tension II

It’s not hard to see why Kylie Minogue wanted to keep the Tension era going. The Princess of Pop’s 2023 record—her 16th—met the moment and set the mood, captured best by “Padam Padam”, the unexpectedly viral hit that ruled over summer ’23 in what will always be known as the “Padamic”. Released just over a year on from that record, this sequel is a celebration of that career high—and a collection that feels primed to get the party started again ahead of 2025’s global Tension tour. Tension II lives in the same world as its predecessor, but here, things feel darker, clubbier, later-night. And as for all the original’s sexual tension? It still hasn’t been broken. Across these tracks, Kylie’s overpowered by “electric energy” (on the disco-laced, ABBA-recalling “Taboo”) and “raw emotion” (“Kiss Bang Bang”); by 4am, she’s even standing outside someone’s door on the rushing “Hello”, unable to stay away. If on Tension Kylie felt ultra-confident, here she feels liberated, throwing off an ex on the dance floor (“Who would think that losing you would be so much fun?” she muses on “Good as Gone”) and declaring her desires outright. “Do you have someone for me?/To be the one/To turn me on/That’s what I need,” she demands on “Someone for Me”, a moment so evocative you can almost see her hiding in a dark club corner, waiting for that wish to be fulfilled. At last, nine tracks in, she finally dials things down, with the end-of-the-night almost-ballad “Shoulda Left Ya”, on which she realises things have become a little less no-strings-attached with someone she’s met on the dance floor. Still, she’s not hanging around. Next, she brings new partners into the Tension world: the artists—including The Blessed Madonna, Orville Peck and Sia—who she worked with on a series of genre-hopping collabs in 2024. Their inclusion serves as a reminder of Kylie’s continuing pop power in an era that confirms that, 37 years into her music career, there’s still nothing this pop princess can’t do.