I am Kylie Minogue, I shouldn’t be shy in my videos… but I wouldn’t wear a catsuit in Tesco, says music icon
AFTER more than three decades at the top, you’d be forgiven for thinking Kylie Minogue might be ready to wind down.
As well as three Brits, 16 Australian Music Awards and a Grammy, in 2020 the pint-sized superstar became the first female artist in history to top the UK album chart over five consecutive decades, thanks to her No1 record Disco.
But now, as she releases her 16th album Tension, she insists she has never felt more empowered to continue to shape the pop landscape.
And don’t expect the 55-year-old to tone down her racy outfits of PVC and lace or sultry lyrics to appease those who say she should toe a so-called “age appropriate” line.
“It’s not about being sexy, it’s about being yourself” she tells The Sun on Sunday as she sits down in London’s Claridge’s hotel to give her only newspaper chat to promote the infectious new electronic album.
“I’m not going down to Tesco’s in thigh boots and a catsuit, but in Popland that is me.
“I don’t even call it sexy as even that feels passé.
“I am happy there is a strength in inhabiting your own playfulness, your own confidence and empowerment.
“It is an acceptance and kind of daring to feel confident with yourself and be at ease.
“I am really comfortable with what I am doing.”
‘Female empowerment’
Indeed her summer smash hit Padam Padam — which includes the not-so-subtle lyrics “I know you want to take me home and take off all my clothes” — saw her shatter the glass ceiling of an often ageist music industry.
For the first time in years, Radio 1 playlisted a woman over 50 after the sensual track went viral on social media and raced up the charts.
It, like other stations, had initially given Kylie’s song a wide berth.
Padam Padam went on to become Kylie’s biggest hit since 2010’s All The Lovers — peaking at No8 in the charts.
Reflecting on the moment, the Can’t Get You Out Of My Head singer says: “It doesn’t irk me when they call it a comeback but I find it funny, as I literally haven’t stopped.
“I didn’t come out with Padam or this album raging against the machine, but I find myself in this position and I am just really thankful that it is coming with positivity.
“Soon ageism will be so uncool you just won’t do it.
“Just let that person live and breathe in their space.
“Of course it was evident to me that something was happening with Padam.”
She continued: “I was first asked about ageism in music when I was doing promotion for Kiss Me Once (2014) and that was new for me.
“At what age should I not present as ‘sexy’?
“I say put ‘sexy’ in quotes because people are going to have different definitions of that.
“But I felt really uncomfortable with that questioning, and that was before I was 50.
“Now I am 55 and I have seen a difference in that time.
“We have to be more accepting of ourselves.
“You know, there is life and beauty in every decade of your life.
“I have gone from being the kid — the youngest person in the music scene — and having that, ‘Well, what do you know — you’re only 18 years old’ to now.
“So I have gone through every decade and thankfully, if people are talking about ageism in music, it is talking about it in relation to ‘we shouldn’t be talking about it’.
“It is almost irrelevant.
“I think younger generations are so open-minded they are not bothered about it.
“Padam is a bop. And that’s it.”
Kylie’s latest single Tension serves as the title track of the album and turns the singer’s sex appeal up to 100.
She repeatedly coos on the chorus: “Oh my God, touch me right there. Almost there, touch me right there.”
Asked if she ever feared the lyrics went too far, Kylie, who has previously recorded tracks with titles including Sexercize and Red Blooded Woman said: “I think in the past it wasn’t quite sitting right, but now it is all good.
“I am really comfortable with what I am doing.
“I did turn to one of the co-writers, Kamille, and said, ‘Did you just say, ‘Almost there, touch me right there?’
“She went, ‘Yes’ and I went ‘OK’. It was the same when I name-check myself (halfway through the track she sings, ‘Call me Kylie, don’t imitate’).
“I wouldn’t have written that myself but I will try most things and it sounded good.
“If it didn’t sit well with me after the fact then I would have changed it. But when people started to hear the song the reaction was positive.
“There is this kind of joy that comes.
“The audience is kind of saying, ‘Yes, you are Kylie’ and I am.
“I shouldn’t be shy about it.”
The Aussie continues: “With Tension it was so playful I just wanted to be part of the fun.
“I wasn’t thinking too much about it. Just go for it.
“Initially I had some question marks about Tension even being on the album as it was even harder.
“Even the ‘Touch me right there, touch me right there’ line.
“But people have just dived right in and there is actually no issue.
“It is wonderful to see.
“It is female empowerment, which is an important part.”
Unsurprisingly, both the accompanying videos for Padam and Tension see Kylie vamping things up like never before.
Her red catsuit and PVC thigh boots looks set to go down as one of her most iconic looks, alongside her gold hot pants from her Spinning Around video in 2000 and slashed white hooded dress from 2001’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.
Kylie says: “The videos go well with the songs.
“It is an acceptance and kind of daring to feel confident with yourself and be at ease.
‘I can still party’
“Don’t get me wrong. Even I have to go ‘What? A red catsuit? OK, I will try it’.
“I do tend to push myself to be out of my comfort zone.”
In November Kylie will kick off her debut Las Vegas residency at new jazz club-style venue Voltaire inside The Venetian hotel.
Even with an additional run of dates, the show has already sold out, becoming one of the most in-demand residencies of the year.
Kylie is keen to enjoy Sin City to the full — shrugging off any suggestion she is too famous to walk down the famous Strip and party the night away with tourists and holidaymakers.
The down-to-earth star said: “Hell yes, I will go out in Vegas.
“I can walk down the strip. Why not? I will figure it out.
“I did that when I did a pre-show visit to check out the city.
“I can still party.
“My typical thing is that I say, ‘No, no, I can’t — it’s a school night. I’m busy’.
“But then I go and I am the last one there. I am up on top of the bar. That is usually me.”
And despite having a reported fortune of £100million, Kylie has no interest in hitting the late-night roulette tables often frequented by Hollywood A-listers.
She laughs and says: “Honestly, I am really not good at gambling.
“It’s not my thing.
“I will probably say, ‘Right, you have 20 bucks’ and go to a ten-cent slot machine.
“I am just there for the entertainment and the food.”
As for the future, a 17th and 18th album are already in the pipeline, as well as a 2024 UK tour.
But Kylie won’t be drawn on where her already stellar career may take her — admitting she finds it difficult to comprehend just how high her star has risen.
She reflects modestly: “I never really thought about the long term at any stage, to be honest.
“I think I have been so consumed by just trying to do what I am doing at the moment well.
“If someone told me when I was 17 and I made my first demo tape that I was going to have a place in global pop music it would have been mind blowing.
“I didn’t have a plan.
“I am not very good at long-term planning.
“I am more reactive.
“When there is a possibility of being top of the charts then of course that is compelling.
“I would love to be there, but then you have to self-talk yourself down.
“But when I am making my albums it’s not a thought that is in my mind, it’s just about making good music.”