Tension

Tension is the sixteenth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was released on 22 September 2023 by BMG Rights Management and Minogue's company, Darenote. It was announced in May 2023, marking Minogue's first new body of work since her 2020 album, Disco. Inspired to create a record that showcases each song's individualism without a core theme, Minogue enlisted the help of a variety of producers including long-time collaborators Richard "Biff" Stannard, Duck Blackwell, Jackson Foote, PhD, and Cutfather.
Influenced by electropop, Tension includes a wide range of electronic dance genres, ranging from 1980s synthpop, disco, and funk, to contemporary dance-pop and house notes. Despite having no central theme, Tension explores subjects such as love, heartbreak, and empowerment. Tension received critical acclaim from most music critics, who praised the album mixture of sounds, as well as its catchiness and production quality. Some publications considered it to be among Minogue's best work.
Three singles were released to promote the album: "10 Out Of 10", "Padam Padam", and the title track. The first was released as a promotional track in collaboration with Dutch DJ and producer Oliver Heldens. "Padam Padam" and the title track followed, with the former achieving a commercial breakthrough for the singer. Minogue has made several live appearances including American Idol, the Capital Summertime Ball, and as the headliner of Radio 2 in the Park. Furthermore, Minogue will begin her first Las Vegas residency show, More Than Just a Residency, in November 2023.
Background
On 6 November 2020, Minogue released her fifteenth studio album titled Disco. It was a musical departure from her country-pop-inspired record Golden (2018), and it marked a return to a disco-oriented sound with which she had previously worked. Her approach to disco, and dance music in general, was well received by music critics, and ended up becoming a commercial success in various markets. Minogue did not promote the album with a concert tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but she did film a one-off special live show titled Infinite Disco, and re-issued the record in December 2021.
Nearing the end of promoting Disco, Minogue appeared on BBC Radio 2 to discuss new music, stating "Perhaps it's going a bit more electropop. Don't quote me that  but that's what's on the boil at the minute.". Minogue confirmed this in a June 2022 interview with Vogue Magazine, citing her 2003 single "Slow" as a reference point for the record's sound. Additionally, Minogue returned to her hometown of Melbourne in February 2022, after living in London since the 1990s.