Light Years - A Retro Review of Kylie’s Return to Pop
Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was released on 22 September 2000 in Australia by Mushroom Records, and later on 25 September 2000 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone. Following the commercial failure of Impossible Princess (1997), Minogue departed with Deconstruction and took a hiatus from recording music. She signed with Parlophone in June 1999, and decided to go back to her pop roots. She worked with various writers and producers, including Steve Anderson, Johnny Douglas, Robbie Williams, Guy Chambers, and Mark Picchiotti. Light Years is a dance-pop, disco, and Europop album that made references to music from the 1970s. Lyrically, the album touches upon themes of women’s empowerment, celebration, and sex in a cheeky and campy approach. It received favourable reviews from music critics, many of whom complimented Minogue’s return to pop and considered the album to be one of Minogue’s strongest releases. The album won the ARIA Award for Best Female Artist and Best Pop Release at the 2001 ceremony. The album peaked at the top position on the Australian Albums Chart, making it Minogue’s first number-one album in her native Australia. It also reached the top 10 in Scotland and New Zealand. Five singles were released from Light Years, including the Australia number-one singles ”Spinning Around” and ”On a Night Like This”, as well as the top 20 entries ”Kids” and ”Please Stay”. All four peaked inside the top 10 in the UK. The final single, ”Your Disco Needs You” was limitedly released in Australia and Germany. It was further promoted with the On a Night Like This Tour, which visited Europe and Australia from March to May 2001. The tour was once the biggest by a solo artist in Australia, grossing U.S. $5 million. The album was re-issued in Europe in 2018 and returned to the UK Albums Chart and the Scottish Albums Chart.