Kylie Minogue - The Abbey Road Sessions album review

Teen pop princess Kylie, indie chick Kylie, disco queen Kylie - in the 25 years since Australia's biggest cultural icon said goodbye forever to Charlene the mechanic, the youngest Minogue sister hasn't exactly been afraid to reinvent herself. But in the latest celebration of her quarter-centenary as a superstar, The Abbey Road Sessions is the first time we've truly seen jazz chanteuse Kylie.

For with this alternative take on her recent Greatest Hits compilation, the pop icon has stepped inside the famous studio to record 15 radical interpretations (plus new track 'Flower') of her most beloved songs with a full orchestra. The Stock Aitken and Waterman-produced chart-topper, 'I Should Be So Lucky,' is therefore transformed into a lush string-soaked torch song. The Balearic vocal house of 'On A Night Like This' is turned into a bluesy cabaret number. And the shimmering electro of 'All The Lovers' is reworked as a romantic slice of chamber pop.

Inevitably, with such perfectly-crafted source material, very few tracks improve on the originals. The playful Motown pastiche of 'The Loco-Motion' is certainly more palatable than her 1987 tinny cover. Lesser-known 'Finer Feelings' is given a new lease of life with an atmospheric tribal arrangement, while accompanied by just a lone piano, Kylie's voice shines on a gorgeously melancholic retooling of 'Never Too Late.'

But apart from the festive-sounding choral version of 'I Believe In You,' which robs the Scissor Sisters-penned ditty of its glittery charms, and the creepy double bass-led jazz of 'Slow,' which is virtually unrecognisable from the minimal synth-pop of the 2003 number one, Kylie's brave approach still largely pays off.

Indeed, she's arguably never sounded better than when she's channelling the spirit of Karen Carpenter on the graceful lounge-pop of 'Better The Devil You Know.' Elsewhere, the delicate acoustic balladry of 'Hand On Your Heart' cleverly pays homage to Jose Gonzales' spin on the bubblegum pop classic, and alth! ough career best 'Confide In Me' could easily have fitted on here in its earlier form, its ambitious adaptation is a brilliantly brooding and cinematic affair which recalls the claustrophobic trip-hop of Massive Attack.

With its habit of straying too far from the original melody and occasional lapses into cocktail bar karaoke, The Abbey Road Sessions doesn't always hit the mark. But it's an always intriguing and regularly enchanting concept which proves just how under-rated both Kylie's vocal ability and back catalogue is.