The Abbey Road Sessions by Kylie Minogue
The Abbey Road Sessions is an orchestral compilation album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, released on 24 October 2012 by Parlophone. The album's production was primarily produced by Steve Anderson and Colin Elliot. The album features sixteen tracks, all radically reworked, spanning Minogue's 25 years in the music industry. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London with Minogue's band and a full orchestra during November 2011. Musically, the album is primarily orchestral music, which features several instrumentation of guitars, pianos, strings and drums. The album's lead single "Flower", which was originally written in 2007, was a new titled song to the album. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, with many finding the recordings her best vocal delivery to date, while some dismissed her transition to orchestral music. Upon its release, the album received generally modest success worldwide, entering the top forty in countries including Scotland, Australia, Ireland, Switzerland, France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, where it received a certification. Minogue then went on to promote the album with live performances.
Surveying the best tunes over her quarter-century recording career, Kylie Minogue proves herself far more than just a vivacious dance-pop queen on <i>The Abbey Road Sessions</i>. These tracks employ a wide range of sonic strategies to bring out the emotional contours of Minogue’s material, allowing her to shift between playful sensuality to moody melodrama and back again. The Australian diva’s vocals rise to the occasion by combining a light, airy timbre with a sense of urgency and resilience. Sumptuous string backing gives songs like “All the Lovers,” “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” and “Hand on Your Heart” the feel of classic orchestral pop. (The elegant ‘30s-style rendition of “I Should Be So Lucky” is especially effective.) Austere piano ballads like “Come into My World” are juxtaposed with spacey excursions like “Slow” and throbbing horn-powered numbers like “Locomotion.” Nick Cave joins Kylie on a stark guitar/vocal remake of their 1995 duet “Where the Wild Roses Grow.” Minogue does it all with effortless self-assurance, revisiting her hits with obvious pleasure while adding something fresh to her legacy.
