| Golden | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 6 April 2018 (2018-04-06) | |||
| Recorded | 2017 | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 40:33 | |||
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| Producer |
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| Kylie Minogue chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Golden | ||||
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Golden is the fourteenthstudio album by Australian singerKylie Minogue. On 6 April 2018,BMG Rights Management and Minogue's company Darenote made it available in a variety of formats. This is Minogue's first album with BMG, and her first musical release sinceKylie Christmas (2015). Minogue began work on the album inLondon andLos Angeles before briefly visitingNashville. She was inspired by Nashville's culture and music, particularly itscountry music influences. Inspired by her journey, she enlisted several producers to create new music, includingAsh Howes,Richard "Biff" Stannard, Sky Adams, Alex Smith, and Mark Taylor, among others.
Golden represents Minogue's musical shift away from traditionaldance-pop music and towardscountry-infused pop anddance music. Minogue co-wrote every song on the album, which features lyrics about failed relationships, death, escapism, family, ageism, and freedom.Music critics praised Minogue's vulnerability and honesty, as well as her songwriting abilities, but they were divided on the composition and overall production standards. Commercially, the album was a success, reaching number one inAustralia,Scotland, and theUnited Kingdom, and earningcertification in the latter. The album also made the top ten in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Spain, and Hungary.
Golden produced sixsingles, including "Dancing", "Stop Me from Falling", "Golden", "A Lifetime to Repair", "Music's Too Sad Without You", and "Sincerely Yours". Minogue appeared at a number of live shows and events to promote the album, primarily in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. Minogue also embarked on two concert tours, the first wasKylie Presents Golden, a promotional tour of Europe and the United States that preceded the album's release in March 2018, and herGolden Tour, which traveled throughout Europe and Australia. The critically and commercially successful tour was followed by alive audio and video release on 6 December 2019.
Between 2014 and 2017, Minogue continued to appear as afeatured artist in the works ofGiorgio Moroder andFernando Garibay, eventually branching out intofilm and television.[2][3] In 2016, Minogue releasedKylie Christmas: Snow Queen Edition, arepackaged version of her previous year'sstudio album and her finalParlophone release.[4][5] Minogue signed a deal withBMG Rights Management in February 2017 to release new music while keeping ownership of all of her material.[6] Minogue and BMG agreed in December to release her new album in Australia and New Zealand throughMushroom Music Labels' subsidiary Liberator Music.[7]
Throughout 2017, Minogue worked on new songs with Amy Wadge, Sky Adams,DJ Fresh,Nathan Chapman,Richard "Biff" Stannard,The Invisible Men, andKaren Poole.[8][9][10] Initial sessions began inLondon andLos Angeles, with Minogue describing the material as "synth-pop dance songs" that her fans would "expect from her".[11] However, Minogue's A&R manager Jamie Nelson suggested that she trycountry music, to which she agreed.[12][13] In July 2017, she spent two weeks inNashville recording four songs, and she described how "it all started to make sense. We were able to take inspiration from this country and incorporate it back into my life."[11]
She described the result as "Dolly Parton standing on a dance floor" and added, "I did a lot of work on the album before that, but Nashville had a profound effect on me."[8][11] Minogue co-wrote every song onGolden, which marks her first time doing so since 1997'sImpossible Princess.[14] Minogue "kept writing songs" without intending to, and the results were very "cathartic"; additionally, the singer believed the song's lyrics came across as more "authentic" and "story-telling" than her previous work. In Nashville, she described her songwriting process as "therapy".[11][15]
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Golden marks Minogue's musical departure from traditionaldance-pop music and towardscountry-infused pop and dance music. Regarding the album's sound, Laure Snapes ofThe Guardian stated "Kylie opts not for copper-bottomed songcraft, but the unholy intersection of country andEDM: drops beget scratchy fiddle breakdowns, while banjo clucks meettropical house in a mush of mild euphoria."[16] Ben Cardaw fromPitchfork wrote that “She borrows from the sledgehammer-subtle EDM Americana ofAvicii's "Wake Me Up," where fingerpicked guitars meet thundering bass drums and teeth-rotting synths in the year of our lord 2013."[17] Additionally,Slant Magazine editor Sal Cinquemani said that "While country signifiers abound, from foot-stomping to fiddling, the songs onGolden also smartly juxtapose contemporary pop elements like soaring synth hooks and pitched-up vocals."[18]
The album opens with the lead single "Dancing", a country-dance-pop hybrid that lacks a bridge section and is lyrically about Minogue's perspective ondeath, with the lyrics "When I go out, I wanna go out dancing", describing how the singer wishes to feel in that situation before death.[11][18] "Stop Me from Falling" has a similar country-dance sound, withhandclaps, "toe-tappin'" basslines, andbanjo riffs.[19] "Golden" is aself-empowerment anthem that appears on soundtracks forSpaghetti Western films, specifically referencingEnnio Morricone'sThe Good, the Bad, and the Ugly theme song with theyodelling.[18][19] Lyrically, "A Lifetime to Repair" delves into failed relationships and contrasts "lolling" country guitars with "drawling" vocals and "glittery"pop music.[20]
"Sincerely Yours" is a popballad that serves as a "love letter" to her fans, sounding similar to the work of Canadian duoTegan & Sara.[19][21] "One Last Kiss" is a "basic" country song featuring live guitar riffs, drums, and banjo instrumentation.[17] "Live a Little" has a similar dance-country sound to the album's opener "Dancing", and the lyrics "slept by candlelight, scared of running out of time" describe her age expectations and desire to be free and have fun.[21][19] "Shelby 68'" has been compared to American singerTaylor Swift's work for its "ill-fitting Tennessee twang" and midtempo rhythm, and the title is a reference to her father'smustang and the year Minogue was born, as well as audio from the vehicle recorded by Minogue's brother Brendan.[19][16]
"Radio On" is another ballad with a stripped-down production ofacoustic guitars andviolins, featuring "thin" vocals and the singer's willingness to forget a previous breakup by "listening to the radio".[19][16][22] The lyric "lying in your lover's T-shirt" in "Love" refers to previous breakups as well as theaforementioned theme.[23] "Raining Glitter" combines lilting acoustic guitar,disco beats, [and] a whooping vocal effect" that was compared to the Spiritual Life / Ibadan remix ofBeth Orton's "Central Reservation".[19][17] The standard edition album closer, "Music's Too Sad Without You", was written in collaboration with English-Italian musicianJack Savoretti and has been compared to American artistsBeck andLana Del Rey.[19][16]
Golden was released in a variety of formats on Minogue's website on 6 April 2018.[24] It is herfourteenth studio release, and the first from BMG Rights Management and Minogue's company Darenote.[25] The standard album contains 12 tracks totalling more than 40 minutes in length, while the deluxe edition includes four additional songs: "Lost Without You", "Every Little Part of Me", "Rollin'", and "Low Blow". Pre-release versions included a signed autograph.[26] Both the standard and deluxe editions includeslipcases,digipacks, and amediabook.[1]
There were also fivevinyl variants available: a standard black vinyl, a clear vinyl with gatefold packaging, apicture disc, a limitedwhite test pressing of the album, and acoffee-table book with 30 large gloss pages containing both the vinyl and standard disc.[27] With the exception of the picture disc and white test pressing versions, each vinyl included adigital copy of the album.[27] Fourcassette tapes were also released: a black tape, a gold tape, a collectors tape featuring a special message from Minogue, and aChristmas-themed collectors tape.[28] The latter two cassette versions were created so thatShazam users could access exclusive content.[28]Golden was also available in digital andstreaming formats, including the standard and deluxe edition.[29][30]
Leif Podhajsky, an Australian art director and graphic designer, developed the creative direction and design forGolden, while British photographer Simon Emmett took the photographs.[31] In a lengthy article about the artwork,Idolator's Mike Wass wrote, "She casually poses on a sofa with tousled hair and minimal make-up. There's even a (sequined) guitar next to her, not an instrument you would normally associate with the Queen of dance/pop."[32]
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Golden released sixsingles. Minogue released "Dancing" as the album'slead single on 19 January 2018, marking her first collaboration with BMG Rights Management. The single's formats includedB-side and bonus track "Rollin'" and additional remixes.[33] The single debuted on Minogue'sYouTube channel and received widespread praise frommusic critics for its music and production, with many hailing it as one of her best singles.[34] Commercially, "Dancing" performed well, reaching the top forty in both Australia and the United Kingdom and earning certifications in both countries. It also charted in Belgium, France, Hungary, New Zealand, and Spain, and became her 14th number-one single on the USBillboardDance Club Songs chart.[35]
"Stop Me from Falling" was released as the second single on 9 March 2018, with digital formats including various remixes; the single version featured Cuban music duoGente de Zona and Spanish lyrics sung by both the duo and Kylie Minogue.[36] It received favourable feedback for its production quality and catchiness. Commercially, it performed moderately, reaching the top sixty of the United Kingdom and other component charts in Australia, France, and Japan. Minogue and Gente de Zona appear in the track'smusic video, which was shot inHavana, Cuba.[37]
"Raining Glitter" was the album's only promotional single, reaching number 188 on theFrench Digital Singles Chart and 98 on theScottish Singles Chart.[38][39] On 28 May 2018, "Golden" was released as the album's third single, featuring remixes by Weiss.[40] Critics praised the song's sound and Minogue's vocals, but it peaked at number 43 on Belgium'sUltratip Bubbling Under chart.[41] Minogue's 50th birthday prompted the release of a music video on YouTube, which was also shot in Havana.[42] "A Lifetime to Repair" was the album's fourth single, released onradio on 4 August and digitally on 17 August 2018.[43] The album's fifth single, "Music's Too Sad Without You", a duet with Jack Savoretti, debuted on 9 October 2018, along with a music video shot inVenice, Italy.[44][45] On 9 November 2018 "Sincerely Yours" was released as the album's sixth and final single, and it received airplay in Australia and New Zealand.[46]
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Minogue and BMG promotedGolden with a comprehensive marketing campaign prior to and during the album's release.Graham Norton interviewed her onBBC Radio 2 prior to her performance of "Dancing" onSaturday Night Takeaway on 24 February 2018.[47][48] During herKylie Presents Golden promotional tour, Minogue debuted several tracks fromGolden atCafé de Paris nightclub on 13 March.[49] She performed "Dancing" and manned phone lines forSports Relief the next day, as well as a special concert forSpotify fans atPorchester Hall on 22 March.[50]
To promote the release ofGolden, Minogue appeared onThe Graham Norton Show and performed "Stop Me From Falling".[51] The next day, she gave a free concert at London'sG-A-Y nightclub. She appeared onZDFmediathek in Germany on 10 April.[52] On 12 April, Minogue appeared onBBC Breakfast,News Breakfast,Studio 10,Today,Sunrise, andToday Extra, and she performed "Dancing" at theEcho Awards.[53][54][55][56] The following day, she returned toLet's Dance Germany to perform.[57] Minogue returned to the United Kingdom to perform atThe Queen's Birthday Party on 21 April 2018.[58] On 25 April, she was interviewed byET Canada, and on May 4, she performed on theSounds Like Friday Night programme.[59][60]
On 15 June, she performed "Islands in the Stream" onThe Chris Evans Breakfast Show, followed by an interview onGood Morning Britain and performances onThe Voice Kids UK on 19 July and 21 July, respectively.[61][62][63] On 9 September, she headlined theBBC Radio 2 festival inHyde Park, and on October 28, she performed "A Lifetime to Repair" onThe X Factor UK.[64][65] On 10 November, she performed "Music's Too Sad Without You" with Jack Savoretti onThe Jonathan Ross Show, and fourteen days later, she appeared onMichael McIntyre's Big Show.[66][67] Minogue promoted the album in the United States by performing and being interviewed onLate Night with Seth Meyers (25 April),BUILD Series (26 April),Good Morning America (27 April), White Party Palm Strings (29 April),The Late Late Show with James Corden (30 April), and theNew York City LGBT Pride March (24 June).[68]
Minogue used two concert tours to promoteGolden. The first was herKylie Presents Golden tour, which visited the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany, and New York City.[69][70] A show in Sydney was originally planned, but it was cancelled for unknown reasons.[71] Minogue stated that she planned to do more intimate shows before embarking on a full-scale tour.[72] She had planned to extend the tour with additional shows, but she scrapped the idea and created a completely new show called theGolden Tour.[73]
The Golden Tour includes 33 shows across Europe and Australia. According to Minogue, the shows would be divided into "two halves", with an intermission and a narrative running throughout.[74] The set list featured a mix ofGolden tracks and songs fromMinogue's discography. Critics praised Minogue's star power, performance abilities, song selection throughout the show, and set design. The Golden tour was a commercial success, with three concerts in London, England atThe O2 Arena grossing $3,368,900 and 30,100 tickets sold, placing her eighth among the biggest concerts in September 2018.[75] Footage from the tour was also filmed across several nights, and was released on 6 December 2019 asGolden Live in Concert.[76]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 5.5/10[77] |
| Metacritic | 63/100[78] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [21] |
| The Daily Telegraph | [79] |
| Exclaim! | 6/10[80] |
| The Guardian | [16] |
| Herald Sun | [81] |
| The Independent | [22] |
| MusicOMH | [20] |
| NME | [19] |
| Pitchfork | 5.4/10[17] |
| Slant Magazine | [18] |
Golden received mixed to positive reviews frommusic critics. AtMetacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics,Golden has an average score of 63 based on 10 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[78] Many critics praised Minogue's contribution to the creative process, particularly her songwriting. Mark Kennedy of theAssociated Press observed that her songwriting abilities have become more reflective of her life; he says, "The lyrics fit a woman who turns 50 this year—regret, bad love, hope and yearning."[82] Cameron Adams ofNews.com.au gave the album four stars, writing, "no one can sayGolden is just your regular Kylie Minogue album."[83] Nick Hasted ofThe Independent gave it three stars, saying it was better than her previous efforts because of its "authenticity", and naming "Shelby '68" and "Love" as two of the singer's most personal songs on the album.[22]
Minogue's foray into country music received positive critiques.AllMusic's Tim Sendra called it "darn bold" for an artist of Minogue's longevity, saying, "The amazing thing about the album, and about Minogue, is that she pulls off the country as well as she's pulled off thenew wave, disco, electro, murder ballads, and everything else she's done in her long career."[21] Sal Cinquemani ofSlant Magazine rated the album three and a half stars, praising Minogue's experimentation with country music and describing it as her most "personal effort since 1997'sImpossible Princess".[18] Minor criticism was directed at her "tinny and over-compressed" vocals on certain tracks, but it was eventually determined that "Golden further bolsters Minogue's reputation for taking risks—and artfully sets the stage for herinevitable disco comeback.”[18]
MusicOMH editor Helen Clarke gave it four stars and praised the singer's songwriting and production abilities. She wrote, "Golden stands alongside her classic records; in a world of disposable music, Kylie's return is welcome and shows how slick, smart pop music should be done."[20] In contrast, Ian Gormely ofExclaim! gaveGolden a 6 out of 10 rating, writing that the album "is bereft of relative stinkers, but there's little to bring listeners back."[80]Pitchfork editor Ben Cardew concurred, stating thatGolden "sounds like someone playing at country music, rather than someone who understands it."[17] He acknowledged Kylie's personality for driving the record, but concluded that he "hopes country Kylie is short-lived".[17]
Larry Bartleet ofNME felt that the best tracks occurred "when country serves as a delicate seasoning for Kylie's pop chops", citing "Dancing" and "Raining Glitter" as examples. In addition, Barleet believed the remaining work "strays perilously close to pastiche".[19] In a negative review, Joe Muggs ofThe Arts Desk gave it two stars, claiming that the production and Kylie's songwriting were overshadowed by "bombast" musical styles. He went on to say that "Kylie very likely does have a great album (or albums) still in her, but imitating artists half her age really isn't the way to get to them."[84]
Golden was a commercial success. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one on theUK Albums Chart with 48,032 album-equivalent units; 1,870 of those units were taken fromsales-equivalent streams as reported byMusic Week.[85] The album became Minogue's sixth number one and her first sinceAphrodite (2010).[86]Golden outsold its closest competitor and previous week's number one,The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, by 13,000 units according to theOfficial Charts Company.[86] The album also debuted at number-one on the UK Vinyl Albums Chart with 6,400 records sold, becoming fastest selling vinyl album of 2018 in the region.[86]
Furthermore,Golden became the year's fastest-selling cassette, outselling the best-selling artist album cassette of 2017 in its first week of release.[86] Prior to the album's release, Adam Sherwin ofI reported that all 4,000 limited editionGolden cassettes had sold out on pre-order, with Minogue's first week cassette sales in the UK totalling 2,600.[87][88] Sherwin stated that the cassette format, once thought to be "obsolete", is experiencing a revival thanks to a new audience of "hipsters and music nostalgists" who value cassettes' "coffee table appeal".[87] By September 2023, the album had sold 179,872 copies in the United Kingdom, and has been certified gold by the British Photographic Industry (BPI) for exceeding sales of 100,000 units.[89]
Golden debuted at number one on theARIA Albums Chart in her native Australia, with 8,745 sales, becoming her fifth studio album to reach the top and makingGolden Minogue's first album to peak at number one in both the United Kingdom and Australia in 17 years, a feat she previously accomplished withFever (2001).[90][91] It then debuted at the top of the Australian Artist Albums Chart and the country's Digital Albums Chart.[92][93] In New Zealand, it peaked at number 16 on theregional albums chart.[94] In Japan, Golden debuted at number 14 on the dailyOricon Albums Chart, number 64 on the weekly chart with 1,052 physical sales, number 10 on the Western Albums Chart, and number 18 on the Digital Albums Chart, selling 586 digital units.[95][96][97][98][99]
In Italy, the album debuted at number 14 on theItalian Albums Chart.[100] In France,Golden debuted at number 33 in thenational album charts, with 2,800 total sales in its first week.[101] In Belgium, it debuted at number four and twelve on the albums charts forFlanders andWallonia.[102][103] In Scandinavia,Golden debuted at number 38 on theSwedish Albums Chart and 47 on theFinnish Albums Chart.[104][105] In Germany, it debuted at number three on thealbums chart, becoming her second highest-charting album afterAphrodite and trailing only 2001'sFever.[106] In the Netherlands, the album debuted at number eighteen on theDutch Album Top 100 and sixth on the vinyl chart.[107] In the United States,Golden opened at number 64 on theBillboard 200, exceeding 10,000album-equivalent units, of which 8,000 were from pure album sales.[108] It also reached number 33 onBillboard'sCanadian Albums Chart.[109]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dancing" | Sky Adams | 2:58 | |
| 2. | "Stop Me from Falling" |
| Adams | 3:01 |
| 3. | "Golden" |
| Rimes | 3:07 |
| 4. | "A Lifetime to Repair" |
| Adams | 3:19 |
| 5. | "Sincerely Yours" |
| Frasure | 3:28 |
| 6. | "One Last Kiss" |
| 3:41 | |
| 7. | "Live a Little" |
| Adams | 3:07 |
| 8. | "Shelby '68" |
|
| 3:35 |
| 9. | "Radio On" |
| Jon Green | 3:42 |
| 10. | "Love" |
| Adams | 2:52 |
| 11. | "Raining Glitter" |
|
| 3:33 |
| 12. | "Music's Too Sad Without You" (withJack Savoretti) |
| Dixon | 4:09 |
| Total length: | 40:33 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Lost Without You" |
|
| 4:04 |
| 14. | "Every Little Part of Me" |
| Adams | 2:58 |
| 15. | "Rollin'" |
| Adams | 3:32 |
| 16. | "Low Blow" |
| Adams | 2:56 |
| Total length: | 54:03 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Dancing" (Initial Talk Remix) |
|
| 3:45 |
| 14. | "Dancing" (Anton Powers Alternative Remix) |
|
| 5:06 |
| Total length: | 49:31 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17. | "Stop Me from Falling" (Remix featuringGente de Zona) |
| Adams | 3:01 |
| Total length: | 57:04 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Music's Too Sad Without You" (single edit withJack Savoretti) |
| Dixon | 3:26 |
| Total length: | 43:59 | |||
Personnel details were sourced from theGolden liner notes booklet.[1]
Performers and musicians
Technical
Design
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[136] | Gold | 167,761[135] |
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | 6 April 2018 |
| [1][27][28][29][30] | |
| Mexico | 20 April 2018 | CD |
| [137] |
| Brazil | 26 April 2018 | [138] | ||
| Various | 9 November 2018 | Collector's Edition cassette |
| [28] |
| 14 December 2018 | Christmas Collector's Edition cassette | [28] |
Following the announcement of her 2019 Australian tour yesterday, Kylie Minogue presents her next Australian single 'Sincerely Yours'.
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| Compilation albums | |
| Remix albums | |
| Live albums | |
| Concerts |
|
| Video | |
| Acting roles | |
| Books | |
| Fragrances | |
| Related articles | |
