Light Years (Kylie Minogue album)
Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Mushroom Records released it on 22 September 2000 in Australia; Parlophone released it on 25 September 2000 in the United Kingdom. Following the commercial failure of Impossible Princess (1997), Minogue left Deconstruction Records and took a hiatus from recording music. She signed with Parlophone in June 1999 and decided to return to her pop roots. She worked with various writers and producers, including Steve Anderson, Johnny Douglas, Robbie Williams, Guy Chambers, and Mark Picchiotti.
Light Years
22 September 2000
1999–2000
- Metropolis (London)
- Angel (London)
- Blah St. (Hampshire)
- Studio 2 (Dublin)
- Olympic (London)
- Real World (Box)
- Therapy (London)
- Master Rock (London)
- Sarm Hook End (London)
58:16
Light Years is a dance-pop, disco, and Europop album that refers to music from the 1970s. Lyrically, the album touches upon themes of women's empowerment, celebration, and sex, in a cheeky and campy approach. Music critics provided positive reviews, complimenting Minogue's return to pop despite them being ambivalent towards the lyrical content. Retrospectively, Light Years has been recognised as one of Minogue's strongest releases. The album won the ARIA Award for Best Female Artist and Best Pop Release at the 2001 ceremonies. Light Years peaked in the top position on the Australian Albums Chart, Minogue's first number-one album in her native Australia. It reached the top 10 in Russia, Scotland, New Zealand, and on the UK Albums Chart.
Five singles were released from Light Years, including "Spinning Around" and "On a Night Like This", which both reached number one in Australia, as well as the top 20 entries "Kids" and "Please Stay". All peaked inside the top 10 in the UK. The final single, "Your Disco Needs You" was only released in Australia and Germany. Light Years was further promoted with the On a Night Like This Tour, which visited Europe and Australia from March to May 2001. At the time, it was the highest grossing tour by a solo artist in Australia, with ticket sales of approximately US$5 million. The album was re-issued in Europe in 2018 and returned to the UK Albums Chart and the Scottish Albums Chart.
Background[edit]
In 1997, Kylie Minogue released her sixth studio album, Impossible Princess. The album represented a drastic change in the singer's musical direction, incorporating elements of electronica and alternative music.[1] The British public was unimpressed with her new musical direction, viewing it as a trend-chasing attempt, and failed to identify with her new intimate image as "IndieKylie".[2] The backlash resulted in Impossible Princess having little impact on British record charts—it initially peaked at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart and sold only 18,000 copies in the first two weeks of release.[3] After embarking on a successful promotional tour, Minogue left Deconstruction Records and BMG in November 1998, ending their six-year relationship.[4]
Following the split, Minogue took a break from recording music to focus on her acting career.[5] She spent several months in Barbados performing Miranda in Toby Gough's production of The Tempest during an annual operatic festival.[6] She also starred in the Australian films Cut and Sample People, both released in 2000.[7] She gave several live performances in Australia, including the 1998 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the opening ceremonies of Melbourne's Crown Casino and Sydney's Fox Studios in 1999.[8] Minogue performed Duran Duran's 1984 single "The Reflex" on the tribute complication Undone: The Songs of Duran Duran (1999),[9] and collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys on a duet, titled "In Denial", on their 1999 studio album Nightlife.[10]
Following "In Denial", Parlophone—a British record label the Pet Shop Boys had been with since 1985—decided to sign Minogue in June 1999.[11] She announced she would start working on a new album, saying: "I took my time in choosing a new label [...] there is much I hope to achieve with my next album and I believe that anything is possible with this new partnership."[12] Parlophone A&R executive Miles Leonard commented: "I believed that [Minogue] was still very strong vocally, and still definitely a star... I believed in her as an artist and I knew that with the right project, the right songwriters, the right producers, the right team, she would still have a fanbase out there."[13]
Themes[edit]
Minogue called Light Years an uplifting and vibrant record, with mostly happy songs that reflect her easy nature when she was making the album. She said listening to it felt like being on a summer holiday.[72] Lyrically, Minogue said that she was "really going for it... [without] holding back", with several songs containing cheekiness, showgirl images, or camp elements.[73] The songs were written from her imagination, rather than the autobiographical style of songwriting that she had experimented with on her previous record Impossible Princess.[74] Minogue recalled writing each song as if it was a scene from a film or a video and trying to interpret and convert the idea into a song.[75] Harrison highlighted Minogue's ability to focus on themes of flirtation, fun, and romance "without undercutting her previous growth as an artist" on Impossible Princess.[46]
Betty Clarke of The Guardian identified the theme of women's empowerment and celebration. She called Light Years "an album that celebrates being a girl", and commented that "not since the Spice Girls has the capacity to fill a dress been so celebrated".[48] "Spinning Around" declares Minogue has changed and learned from her past mistakes.[77] True and Smith interpreted it as Minogue's move away from her more experimental work on Impossible Princess.[78] Pam Avoledo of Blogcritics found the amorous song depicted a woman who is expressing herself and taking control of her life.[79] Clarke viewed "On a Night Like This" and "So Now Goodbye" as the up-tempo disco antics that successfully depict the notions of "grabbing the best looking man in the club, then ditching him when you feel like it".[48] "Butterfly" discusses the spiritual freedom and joy of life,[80] while "Bittersweet Goodbye" is a stripped-back ode to love.[23] Smith viewed the track as a tribute to her former lover Michael Hutchence, who died in November 1997.[81]
Writing for The Sydney Morning Herald, Catherine Keenan wrote the album is "full of gay club anthems and not short on sex".[82] Minogue calls for the listener to join her on the dance floor on "Your Disco Needs You".[65] At one point, she delivers a military-like spoken interlude in French: "Vous êtes jamais seuls / Vous savez ce qu'il faut faire / Ne laissez pas tomber votre nation / La disco a besoin de vous!" ("You are never alone / You know what to do / Don't let your nation down / The disco needs you!")[83] "Loveboat" is an homage to the 1970s television series of the same name, while referencing martinis, bikinis and James Bond in its lyrics.[84] It contains several French phrases and cheeky lines such as "Rub on some lotion / The places I can't reach."[85] Levine referred to the lyrics of "Loveboat" as a sensual couplet.[86] Smith felt that the track is a mixture of kitsch and tropicana, and Minogue sounds ebullient.[65] The penultimate track is "Kids", a joyous pop duet with Williams.[68] The track references to the careers of both Minogue and Williams, with Minogue singing the line: "I've been dropping beats since Back in Black."[87] On the title track, Minogue plays an air hostess on a fictional KM-Air flight.[44] Adams found Minogue devoted to the erotic track.[88]
Commercial performance[edit]
Upon its release, Light Years debuted in second position on the ARIA Charts the week of 8 October 2000, denied the top position by The Games of the XXVII Olympiad: Official Music from the Opening Ceremony, the official album of the 2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.[157] In its third charting week, it rose to number one, becoming Minogue's first number-one album in her home country, 12 years after her debut album was released.[158] The album remained within the top 20 for over 30 consecutive weeks, from October 2000 to June 2001.[159] It fell off the chart for the first time in July 2001, before re-entering at number 40 in October when Fever was released.[159] In total, Light Years spent 43 weeks on the top 50 chart, beating Impossible Princess as Minogue's longest-charting album at the time.[159] Within the year 2000, the album was certified quadruple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales exceeding 280,000 copies.[160] It appeared on the ARIA year-end album charts for 2000 and 2001 at number seventeen on both, and the decade-end chart at number 69.[161] In New Zealand, the album debuted and peaked at number eight the week of 22 October; Light Years marked Minogue's highest-charting album in New Zealand since Enjoy Yourself peaked at number six in 1989.[162]
The album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart during the week of 7 October 2000, behind Madonna's Music.[163] On 9 February 2001, it was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of more than 300,000 units.[164] It was Minogue's most successful album sales-wise since Enjoy Yourself in 1989.[65] When Fever was released in October 2001, Light Years had remained in the top 100 for 27 non-consecutive weeks.[129] From January to May 2002, the album re-entered the chart, staying for 11 weeks.[129] In 2018, the reissue of Light Years peaked at number 36 on the UK Albums Chart on 7 June; it was the third best-selling vinyl album of the week.[165] That same week, the reissue also appeared on the Scottish Albums Chart, reaching number 21—Light Years had previously peaked at number 3 there after its original release in 2000.[166] In Ireland, the album spent five weeks on the chart and peaked at number 13.[167] Light Years had sold 508,739 copies in the UK as of September 2023, and in total the album spent a total of 39 non-consecutive weeks on the Official Albums Chart.[168]
According to Music & Media, Light Years peaked at number 10 on the European Top 100 Albums chart.[169] The album peaked within the top 40 in several European countries, including Belgium,[170] Finland,[171] Germany,[172] Hungary,[173] Poland,[174] Sweden,[175] and Switzerland.[176] Light Years also reached number 50 in France,[177] and number 71 in Netherlands.[178] In South Africa, the album peaked at number 11 and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry of South Africa for shipments of 100,000 copies.[179]
Accolades and impact[edit]
"Spinning Around" earned nominations for Best Female Artist and Best Pop Release at the 2000 ARIA Music Awards show, winning the latter.[180] In the following ceremony, Light Years garnered four nominations, winning Minogue's first Best Female Artist and the second-consecutive Best Pop Release, while losing both Highest Selling Album and Album of the Year to Powderfinger's Odyssey Number Five (2000). That same year, "On a Night Like This" was also nominated for Highest Selling Single and Single of the Year.[181] Phonographic Performance Company of Australia recognised Minogue as the seventh-most broadcast artist of 2001, while three tracks from Light Years appeared on the top 100 Most Broadcast Recordings of 2001: "Spinning Around" (number 12), "On a Night Like This" (number 15), and "Kids" (number 163).[182]
Music critics recognised Light Years for reviving Minogue's career and reestablishing her to the public.[183] The music video for "Spinning Around" led to her bottom and the revealing hotpants gaining extensive coverage in the media, referring to it as one of her trademark looks.[184] Jaelani Turner-Williams of Stereogum and Clarke credited the album for introducing a more sophisticated side of disco-pop for the new century.[185] Minogue went on to make six more studio albums with Parlophone until 2016, her longest label residency after Mushroom Records.[46]
Critics also highlighted Light Years' impact on the music scene. Cinquemani stated house tracks "On a Night Like This" and "Butterfly" predicted the rise of EDM music and created the template for Minogue's releases over the next 15 years.[156] True commented Minogue is finally comfortable with who she is and praised the album as one of the best disco records since the 1970s.[43] A reviewer from Sputnikmusic credited the album for bringing nu-disco to the public, predicting the direction for her later releases, and influencing pop projects for two decades—namely Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005), Arcade Fire's Reflektor (2013), and Carly Rae Jepsen's "Julien" (2019).[57] In a 2010 article, Karina Halle of Consequence noted Minogue's flamboyant musical style has been passed down to contemporary pop artists like Lady Gaga.[186]
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