Album Review: Kim Wilde – Here Come The Aliens
2 min read
Your eyes do not deceive you, 80s superstar Kim Wilde really has called her latest record Here Come The Aliens. But instead of having you reaching to call Mulder & Scully, this record is more likely to have you reaching for the glitter!
Here Come The Aliens is Wilde’s first collection in seven years, and was produced by her brother Ricky. 1969 welcomes us back into Kim’s wild world, marrying together rock and pop to form a powerful hybrid. Wilde’s energy and enjoyment for music is let loose right from the get go and punctuates this track with so much youth it can’t be contained.
I am going to go out on a limb here and say that Pop Don’t Stop is the standout moment of the record. It begins with a Madonna/Gaga-tinged vocal and this song could easily belong in the back catalogue of either. As soon as the chorus slams you into outer space, you’re pummelled by just how great this tune is. Stereo Shot is more Goldfrapp than Gaga; but indicate that even though Wilde was not in the limelight, she has kept her ear and finger firmly on the pulse – picking up right where she left off all those years ago.
Addicted To You pulls no punches when it comes to synth powered sparkle. The softer vocal gives it slightly less oomph than its predecessors, but still manages to maintain the overall flow of the album. More than once during hearing this record I have thought to myself “where is this intro from?”, because there seems to be something so familiar yet alien to these tracks. I wasn’t even born when Kim Wilde came into the public eye, but the renaissance taking place with this album is something I’m glad to have seen in real time.
The album ends with the Frida Sunder featuring Rosetta, which is very La Isla Bonita era Madonna. This is the only moment during the album that hasn’t quite delivered, it lacks the preppy spirit and chutzpah of the rest of the album. It was a creative gamble that can’t quite hold it’s own against the rest of Kim’s successful return.
There’s no doubt that Here Comes The Aliens is anything but a solid party record. From the get go, there’s enough poppy goodness to bridge the gap between the generations that Wilde has occupied. I was really pleasantly surprised at how fresh the record is, especially because I was expecting some sort of strange concept album. Please don’t judge this album by its name, and let these great pop songs win you over!
