| "Cowboy Style" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byKylie Minogue | ||||
| from the albumImpossible Princess | ||||
| B-side | "Love Takes Over Me" | |||
| Released | 5 October 1998 (1998-10-05)[1] | |||
| Studio | Real World (Box, England)[2] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:44 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Producer | Brothers in Rhythm | |||
| Kylie Minogue singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio | ||||
| "Cowboy Style" onYouTube | ||||
"Cowboy Style" is a song recorded by Australian singer and songwriterKylie Minogue, for her sixth studio albumImpossible Princess (1997). The song was released as the fourth and final single in Australia only on 5 October 1998[1] throughMushroom Records. Minogue wrote the track withSteve Anderson andDave Seaman whileBrothers in Rhythm produced it. Backed by guitars, synthesisers and drum instruments, "Cowboy Style" is aCeltic pop track in which Minogue sings about her relationship with her then-boyfriend, French directorStephane Sednaoui. Critical response to "Cowboy Style" was positive, with praise driven to Minogue's songwriting and the song's composition; some critics highlighted it as a career stand-out track. Released in Australia and New Zealand, the song charted at number 39 on theAustralian Singles Chart.
Minogue promoted "Cowboy Style" by performing it on herIntimate and Live Tour from June to August 1998. One of the live performances, directed by Michael Williams, was used as the music video. She later performed it on herFever Tour (2002) andShowgirl: The Homecoming Tour (2006). The song was later included in the track list of Minogue's compilation albumsConfide in Me (2002) andConfide in Me: The Irresistible Kylie (2007).
"Cowboy Style" was written by Minogue,Steve Anderson andDave Seaman, and was one of the first songs composed for the album.[3] Minogue wrote the song prior to being in a relationship with French photographerStephane Sednaoui with different lyrical context, but it was completed while she was dating.[3] Of the song, Minogue said "the way you start a new relationship with someone, they can bring out so many emotions within you and makes you question yourself a bit more."[3] The title "Cowboy Style" comes from when she first met Sednaoui in person, where she recalled him looking "unusual" and felt like he was "the new cowboy coming into town".[3]
Following the weak commercial performances of the album and its previous singles, Minogue leftDeconstruction Records.[4] While performing on herIntimate and Live concert tour in Australia, Minogue confirmed that she would release "Cowboy Style" as the fourth single in Australia and New Zealand byMushroom Records.[4] The single's artwork was shot during the Intimate and Live tour by Simon Emmert, which featured Minogue with a leather bra and a cowboy hat on.[5]Idolator listed the artwork as one of "Kylie's Best Single Covers", saying "Leather bra and a cowboy hat. Enough said."[6] An unedited shot of the cover was featured in herKylie photo album book, released in August 1999.[5]
"Cowboy Style" was recorded at Real World Studios, Sarm West and DMC Studios inLondon, England and wasmixed by Alan Bremner at Real World.[7] Instrumentally, Greg Bones and Anderson played the guitar, Johnnie Hardie played thefiddle, and all other instrumentals played by Anderson.[7] "Cowboy Style" is aCelticpop song that lasts a duration of four minutes and forty-four seconds.[7] Sal Cinquemani fromSlant Magazine commented that "Cowboy Style features a tribal percussion break and a string quartet that sounds more Celtic than country."[8] Online music critic Adrian Denning compared the song to the work of Icelandic recording artist and songwriterBjörk.[9] Nick Levine fromDigital Spy said "Oh, and in 'Cowboy Style', it has a track that manages to sound a little bit Celtic and a little bit Middle Eastern.Pete Waterman must have wept."[10]
"Cowboy Style" received positive reviews frommusic critics. A reviewer fromWho magazine was positive towards the track, stating it was "an almost Eastern feel under a free-flowing melody", as well as "classic poppy Kyles."[11] Cameron Adams fromHerald Sun also commended the track, saying it "manages to border from country music and remain cool."[12] Gary James fromEntertainment Focus praised all the songs onImpossible Princess written by Minogue, and selected "Cowboy Style", along with "Say Hey", "Too Far" and "Limbo", as tracks in which the singer was able to portray a "sense of claustrophobia and uncertainty".[13] According toStockport Times' Anthony Loman, Brothers in Rhythm's production, as well as its "electric fiddle", make the song "work well".[14] Owen Myers ofPitchfork labelled it as one of the "slight almost-anthems" from the album.[15]
John Mangan fromThe Age was positive in his review, saying the song was a "funky hoe-down sound".[16] Online critic Adrian Denning found the track "impressive, eastern flavored".[17]Louis Virtel fromThe Backlot listed the song at number 11 on their list of Minogue's best songs and stated: "This stylistic mishmash (featuring a deep Celtic sound that, maybe, Alison Krauss could fiddle along with) is a hard-driving, adrenalized, sexualized quest for freedom. How do you deal with the fact that Kylie sings, 'I am frightened, I'm aroused, I'm enlightened to the now' and totally sells it?"[18] Josh Martin fromMTV Australia placed the track at number 16 on his list of Minogue's best singles, commenting it was "one of the richest instrumentals onImpossible Princess".[19] "Cowboy Style" entered on theARIA Charts at number 39 on 18 October 1998.[20][21] It became the lowest charting single from theImpossible Princess album.[22]
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Themusic video for "Cowboy Style" was directed by Michael Williams and taped at a sound check at one of the Intimate and Live shows in June 1998.[23] The music video was dubbed with the radio edit, and it was featured on the CD single. The music video was released on the DVD version ofGreatest Hits 87–99 in June 2003.[24]
Minogue performed "Cowboy Style" on the Australian morning TV seriesHey Hey It's Saturday.[25] Minogue included the song on the set list for her 1998 concert tourIntimate and Live. The performance was recorded on 30 June and 1 July atCapitol Theatre in Sydney, and appeared on the relatedCD and DVD.[26][27] The live version also appeared on her promotional single "Dancing Queen".[28] "Cowboy Style" was included on her 2002 Australian and EuropeanFever Tour.[29] The performance featured Minogue standing on a level of staircases, dressed in a bright-pink sleeveless jacket with white cargo pants. The performance was recorded on 4 May 2002 atManchester Arena inManchester, England, and was released on 4 November that same year.[30] The song's most recent performance was on theShowgirl: The Homecoming Tour in 2006. The performance was recorded on 12 November 2006 inSydney,Australia and was released as a double CD set.[31]
"Cowboy Style" was released in mid-1997 in the UK on a cassette tape with all other album tracks as part of a promotional release and a CD sampler.[32][33] "Cowboy Style" has been featured on many of Minogue's compilation albums. Its first appearance was on her 2002BMGgreatest hits compilation albumConfide in Me, a compilation consisting majority of her singles and tracks from her Deconstruction period; Heather Phares fromAllMusic praised theImpossible Princess tracks including "Cowboy Style".[34] It then appeared on her 2003 compilation albumGreatest Hits: 87–99, and her 2004 albumArtist Collection, which included most of herImpossible Princess era.[35][36] It appeared on the first disc ofConfide in Me: The Irresistible Kylie released in July 2007 by UK independent label Music Club and herK25: Time Capsule by Warner Music Australia.[37][38]
CD single[39]
Digital music video download[40][41]
Personnel are adapted from the album'sliner notes.[7]
| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[42] | 39 |
