Kylie Minogue unwraps Kylie Christmas, an album as hot as her Australian homeland.
By Brandon Voss
Kylie Minogue didn’t grow up listening to Christmas carols in Australia, which, during the holiday season, is anything but a winter wonderland. “Christmastime in Australia is summertime, so our Christmas break is more about being outdoors — swimming, checking on the barbeque, and then getting back in the pool,” she says. “It wasn’t about staying toasty indoors with the music on.”
Kylie Christmas, the pop diva’s 13th studio album and first full-length Christmas album, makes up for lost caroling time with her sparkling covers of chestnuts like “Let It Snow,” “Santa Baby,” and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” But whereas many modern holiday albums only reheat old tunes, Kylie Christmas features a total of six new songs on its deluxe edition, including “100 Degrees,” a disco duet with her sister, Dannii Minogue. “It’s a gayplosion for sure,” she says with a laugh. “Glitter’s going to come out of the speakers. I didn’t want an album that was all about snowy, cold Christmases, even though I love those too. I knew I had to have a nod to the Christmases we grew up with.”
Now that she’s all grown, Minogue’s holiday traditions include carols, cooking, and even a little chaos. “I’m not mad at that last-minute wild panic before Christmas day arrives,” she says. “When you think you’ve got everything sorted but you really don’t, and so you have to race out to get all those last-minute things?” She also gets into the spirit of gift giving, though not necessarily for the reasons you might think. “I love wrapping presents! If that’s not your thing, I will gladly come and do it for you.”
As for what’s on Minogue’s wish list this season, “I just want to be with my nearest and dearest,” she says. “And to think that I may be even a small part of other people’s Christmases, as cheesy as it sounds, I reckon that would be the best present.”
But has she been naughty or nice? “I think I’ve been a higher percentage of nice than naughty. Let’s just roll with that and see if Santa hears otherwise.”
Next, November 2015.