This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
“Come on and dance with me,” purrs Kylie Minogue — only she’s not talking about the disco, if you catch my drift.
Not that anyone would be surprised if you didn’t — after all, next to the skankorama tawdriness of her dance-diva contemporaries, Kylie’s slightly more stylish and mature brand of sensuality might seem a tad too subtle to be effective. Trust me, though; it works just fine on her superbly understated new CD Body Language.
Veering away from lighter, energetic disco-pop of her last few discs, Minogue lowers the lights a shade, takes it down a notch, slips into something comfortable and takes her time putting the moves on you on these 14 tracks. As always, she keeps her approach simple: Most of these retro-dance party cuts are sparsely arranged around lightly percolating mid-tempo beatboxes, bouncy basslines and gently burbling synths. None of it overpowers Kylie’s limited but highly effective vocals, which move from husky propositions and erotic moaning to pop-diva trilling and — this time out — the occasional rap.
Minogue also seems to stretch her musical boundaries a bit here, flirting with everything from Prince-inspired electroclash (Still Standing) and funk (I Feel For You) to lurching teen-pop (Red Blooded Woman) and hip-hop (Cruise Control, one of the Canadian bonus tracks). Through it all, though, Kylie never loses her cool or says anything she’ll regret. Her Body Language does the talking for her.
