Kylie Minogue’s ‘Tension’ Keeps Her Drumbeat Going ‘Padam Padam’ With 11 Slabs of Pop Perfection: Album Review

variety.com:

Todd Gilchrist editor As the platonic ideal of a pop star aging gracefully in her career, Kylie Minogue knows what kind of artist she is and for 35 years has stuck to that identity — and better than that, embraced it. “Tension” is her sixteenth album, and it’s not only as good as the ones she released 10 or 20 or more years ago, it’s just like them: full of shiny, irresistible, easily digestible songs whose sole purpose is to make listeners fall in love and dance, if not always in that order.

As consistent as her 2020 release “Disco” (if palpably more exuberant for being recorded and released post-pandemic), “Tension” exudes a return-to-normalcy joy that showcases her well-established strengths as a singer, songwriter and performer of pop music.

The first single “Padam Padam,” released in May, threw down an impressive gauntlet. Though it only floated to No. 34 on the Top 40 chart, it instantly became a contender for the nebulous, informal but always contentious prize of “song of the summer,” especially after her LGBTQ fans appropriated it for their worldwide pride events.

At once vintage and ultra-modern Kylie, the content of the song seemed like a warm-up for the love affair that was yet to come with the album: its singer finds a suitable partner on the dancefloor and sparks ensue.