Ezekiel RodofiliAround the middle of 2025 I decided to listen to most of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ studio discography. Never been much a fan of Nick Cave, but I like some stuff here and there. Whilst going through the albums I was talking to Ewen, who is a Nick Cave fan, about them. Somewhere around Murder Ballads, I told him that once I was done with Bad Seeds I was going to move onto Kylie Minogue, whose music is also about love and sex, but far more joyful. Reductive, I know.
A few weeks later I was working from home due to an annoying cold. Decided to go for a walk at lunch to try and sweat it out a bit. Never been much a fan of Kylie Minogue, so in early 2025 I gave part of her discography a spin to see if I’d like the work. Some of it I enjoyed and some of it I didn’t. I did like most of Fever though, and planned on getting back to it at some point. For that walk I decided to give the album a spin, and it made me think about things.
Fever‘s an album of sleek, shiny, bits of music. It comes out swinging with “More More More”, “Love at First Sight” and “Can’t get You out of my Head”. From there, it changes pace a little with the sugary title track, gets a bit harder with “Give it to me” then slows a bit with “Fragile” and “Come into my World”. “Into Your Eyes” through to “Love Affair” brings energy back to the forefront. Then “Your Love” relaxes a little bit, sort of like a winding down. Last is “Burning up”, which does well in summarising the album whilst closing it with a mix of tender quiet and energised passion.
Fever is an album that wears its heart on its sleeve. Liberally spread throughout are themes of romance, things related to romance, and enjoying one’s time. Sometimes coming across as though part of an introspective dialogue, and sometimes more externally, it’s stuff that feels close to Kylie Minogue’s heart. As such, there’s a confidence in what is and is not put forward. Sometimes a song’s subject matter is lathered on; sometimes it’s a little restrained, but it’s always enough. It’s also stuff that’s expressed in a rather direct and clear way. You could dig if you wanted to and find something deeper, but the thematic expression works in the album’s favour. These are declarative songs presenting their themes in a straightforward way. They don’t need to be deep, exploratory pieces.
What’s here is enjoyable and satisfying; this is music for a good time, and the songs work with each other. However, at times the album feels a bit long in the tooth. It can can come off as too smoothed out, leading to some songs feeling monotonous at times. You could probably drop either “Fever” or “Give it to Me”, and “Dancefloor” and have Fever feeling tighter without making it feel less expressive. There’s others you could put forward for removal and have the same effect. However, the tracks are balanced against each other in such a specific way that removing any would likely harm the expressive flow, which is quite good. It’s unfortunate, as the way the album is puts it in an awkward space.
That said, it’s not the amount of songs, but rather, naturally, Kylie Minogue’s performance that’s the main attraction. There’s excitement and a playfulness in her voice, and it comes through in a way that feels considered and gentle without being soft. Kylie doesn’t feel like she’s in your face. She knows when being more overt in her delivery will work best, and she knows when to pull back. There’s a quality in how she uses words and tone that I find difficult to describe; it’s there, she knows it and it helps bind all that she does together. It’s part of what makes Kylie so effective as a singer as it allows her to move through the surrounding sounds and sink into your ears with ease.
So Fever is sleek and smooth, and perhaps too refined. But the vocal performance is strong and the use of sound is fitting throughout. It’s fun, affirming pop and is a creative, artistic work, and I think that is something worth talking about.
I’ve listened to too many people decry pop as facile, throwaway nonsense, when the same could be said for the heavy, “extreme” stuff for which they show more respect and reverence. To me, if a bunch of people singing or screaming about intense subject matter is justifiable as art, than so is anything that you might want to dismiss.
If people are willing to accept someone’s misery in music as art, then what makes Kylie less so an artist? Is it because her songs aren’t miserable or long enough? Is it because she doesn’t express enough suffering? Among other artists, Nick Cave clearly has respect for Kylie Minogue’s art and ability. If not, he wouldn’t have written for and asked her to sing on “Where the Wild Roses Grow”.
I first heard Fever‘s singles when they came out. Whilst I liked some, my appreciation for them is greater now than when I was younger. This is especially the case for “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”, as I very much did not like it back then. Now I like the way its lyrical repetition reinforces its sense of obsession. I can appreciate that, and I respect the work that went into making it appealing.
To work with others in the act of making music that works; to keep going out on stage and sing; to keep developing a voice and working on sound… these take time, effort and dedication, especially over a period spanning decades. The music might not be reaching for critical status, but anything that’s blissful, romantic, fun, surface, whatever, is as much an artistic creation as anything seen as more serious, deep, heavy or experimental. Essentially, what I’m clumsily (and probably obviously) trying to get at is this: Kylie Minogue is an artist, and Fever is art.
Fever came out a little over a year after Light Years. In a way the former feels like it’s building on the momentum of the latter. However, where Light Years is more willing to be maximal, Fever is more minimal and understated. It’s an album that shows a restlessness; a willingness to reaffirm whilst growing from a foundation. I think that restless works in its favour as it’s not a re-hash. However, I feel conflicted about what to say about it.
Is it Kylie’s best? Is it her worst? Does it sit somewhere in the middle? I don’t know. What I do know is that sometimes when I feel low I want to dance, and Fever makes me want to dance.