★★★★★ Beyoncé worked with so many people on ‘Lemonade’, her sixth album which she dropped in late April with an accompanying short fi lm, that its credits run to 3,105 words. It’s a testament to her star power that none of her collaborators blabbed before the surprise album release – Bey’s second in a row after her 2013 self-titled LP. But it’s also a testament to her star quality that despite the many, many cooks in this kitchen, ‘Lemonade’ feels like an album only Beyoncé could make. ‘Lemonade’ is officially billed as ‘a conceptual project based on every woman’s journey of self knowledge and healing’, but the narrative is really one of marital infi delity. ‘How did it come down to this? Going through your call list,’ she sings on the deceptively breezy reggae bounce of ‘Hold Up’, before issuing what sounds like an ultimatum on the brilliant, Jack White-assisted rock stomper ‘Don’t Hurt Yourself’: ‘If you try this shit again / You gon’ lose your wife.’ The electro blips of ‘Sorry’ feature another killer couplet: ‘He only want me when I’m not there / He better call Becky with the good hair.’ Beyoncé stops short of singing ‘My sister Solange appeared to attack you in a lift after the Met Gala in 2014’, but this is still startling stuff which must be tough for Jay Z (who appears in the short film) to listen to. As the story progresses from rage to reconciliation, ‘Lemonade’ continues to thrill musically. Bey teams with The Weeknd for ‘6 Inch’, a kind of strip club update of
Lately, Kylie Minogue has been giving off mixed messages. First she split from her long-term manager and joined Jay Z's Roc Nation stable, suggesting a desire to explore cooler musical territory - more hip hop, less dance-pop. Then, just months later, she signed up to 'coach' on mumsy BBC talent show 'The Voice'. Was the little Aussie pop rocket actually heading to the middle of the road after all?
Either both moves were red herrings or the singer got cold feet, as 'Kiss Me Once' is basically a typical Kylie Minogue album - albeit a very good one. Sure, the disco-ish 'I Was Gonna Cancel' boasts production from chart-dominating trendsetter Pharrell Williams, and there's a dreadful dubstep-flecked dirge called 'Sexercize', but generally, pure sparkly pop is the order of the day.
Though it lacks a single as indelible as 'Can't Get You Out of My Head', the singer's twelfth studio album has plenty of catchy, likeable pop bangers. The title track has a gorgeous chorus you'll hum for days, 'Feels So Good' is a sublime electro slow-burner, and 'Sexy Love' will fill dancefloors from Oldham to Old Compton Street.
Best of all is the ludicrous 'Les Sex', on which Minogue, 46 next birthday, carries off lines like 'Les love, les sex, les hand on les leg'. Seriously, what a pop star.