Pop superstar Kylie Minogue says she made a “conscious decision to go for it” in terms of promoting her new album Tension – and indeed she has. Since mid-May, she’s been hard at work across the globe to tell the tale of Tension.
“The entire team’s been working really hard,” she tells the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen to her full interview, below). “I feel so grateful for this moment and so excited for the music and what is unfolding — people’s experience with the music and how they’re making it their own and really welcoming it into their lives, that how could I not give extra? I mean it’s kind of my default anyways.”
All that hard work paid off too. Tension debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, scored her biggest sales week in the U.S. in early 20 years, and opened at No. 1 in the U.K. and in Australia.
Now that she’s broken the Tension, next up for Minogue is the launch of her residency at the Voltaire Belle de Nuit at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, which begins on Nov. 3. The intimate club, which will hold only 1,000 guests at each show, promises to offer a unique experience with Minogue, which the Voltaire advertises as “more than just a residency.”
Minogue says her performance within the club will feature a “selection of songs from throughout the years” and that the show, and its setlist, could evolve over time, since she has 20 shows currently scheduled “over a number of months,” on through next May.
Guests attending an evening at the Voltaire during Minogue’s residency will see their evening start around 9:30 p.m., while Minogue will take the stage a little after 11. “It’s late night,” she says. Will her Voltaire performance differ from a traditional touring show from Minogue? “It will be different to a normal concert,” she says. “My show’s normally two [hours], two [hours] and 15 [minutes long] … so it’s gonna be more snug [than a regular show]. I think it’s gonna feel, because we’re so close [she and the audience] … to be revealed. I mean, I haven’t done this kind of show before. But I think being that close and that intimate in that environment, I think it’s gonna feel kind of more than what it might appear on paper.”
Will her Voltaire residency preclude Minogue from going out on the road with her own tour? No! Does she have a desire to head back out for her own traveling show? Yes!
“I see [the Voltaire engagement] as a very specific show and experience, enhanced by and limited by its surrounds. It is a performance within the Voltaire club. And, to be this involved at the inception of this club — which will hopefully be there for many, many years with lots of different artists performing there — I do feel especially attached to it because I’ve known about it since its inception and I’m part of the opening. But, my tour? That would be different again. And a very different sensation for me and for the audience. So yeah, I would love to go on tour again, absolutely.”
Also in our chat with Minogue, the pop princess reveals how she “would love to be back in the studio” working on new music after the inspiring time she had making the Tension album. “I feel like we’ve just kind of tapped into something that I’d love to explore more.”
Also on the new edition of the Pop Shop Podcast, we’ve got chart news how *NSYNC returns to the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in 20 years and makes a splashy entrance on Billboard’s airplay charts with “Better Place,” Pop Shop hosts Katie and Keith discuss their recent concert trips to see P!nk and Jessie Ware, respectively, and a chart stat of the week about Madonna’s debut on the Hot 100, 40 years ago this month.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
