Everything old is new again, as Kylie Minogue reinvents her old hits (and new single "Flower") on her new album The Abbey Road Sessions. This has her not simply collecting songs for another greatest hits compilation, but departing from her pop-disco stylings to give these songs a new feel that is quite beautiful.
While most of the songs here began as pop fluff -- from Kylie's teen beginnings to most recent album, Aphrodite -- Kylie reinvents them by focusing on her vocals, supported by everything from piano to violins to acoustic guitar. The result is amazing, as Kylie transforms from a top 40 diva to a crooner who would be just as comfortable singing in a piano bar or in front of an orchestra. The Abbey Road Sessions also provides a nice amount of musical variety, whether it's the '50s-sounding "Locomotion," the lovelorn-ballad approach to "Hand on Your Heart" and "Never Too Late," or keeping "Can't Get You Out of My Head" a fast-paced song not with steady synthesizers but with violins rushing in. (It's also nice to have Nick Cave singing with Kylie again on "Where the Wild Roses Grow.")
Songwriting has never been Kylie Minogue's strength, and even the very nice redoings here can't conceal the sometimes-clunky lyrics. Apart from that, though, The Abbey Road Sessions is a stunning album that shows a side of Kylie that has seldom been seen but is quite seductive musically.Overall grade: A
Reviewed by James Lynch
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