The Summer of Stuart (Price)

Anyone with even half an eye on the blogosphere won't have been able to excape the fact that during the past week, two fairly amazing pieces of music have been previewed. Firstly, Scissor Sisters finally pulled back the curtain after months of previews and teasing to give a first glimpse of their upcoming album Night Work. The first single from said album is going to be "Fire On Fire" on June 20th, but the first full preview they've given us is the album's closer "Invisible Light"



The portents from this sneak preview (alongside some other interviews which Jake Shears has given in the recent past) are very good for fans hoping for a return to form from the band. We at The Pop Web have long believed that Scissor Sisters are at their very best when they take their music to dark places. If "Invisible Light" is anything to go by, we may be seeing a return to that direction, rather than the upmarket levity offered by "Ta-Dah". We particularly enjoy the Thriller/Vincent Price-esque Ian McKellen voiceover in the middle of the track. The Scissor Sisters consistently manage to pull it out of the bag for their albums' closing tracks (c.f. the ABSOLUTELY SPELLBINDING "Return To Oz" and a real highlight on "Ta-Dah", "Transistor"). We really hope that this journey of discovery that Shears has ostensibly been on for the past couple of years brings a real grit back to Scissor Sisters. Whilst "Ta-Dah" offered some extremely servicable pop to the market in a fairly bleak 2006/7, there was very little there which captured the magic of the debut album, with the subversive combination of energy, despair and New York City nightlife permeating the music. We keep our fingers crossed.

To follow that, noon yesterday saw the shocking announcement that Kylie Minogue had finally gotten on with it and was bringing out a new record: Aphrodite.

(Amazing artwork etc. etc.).

It's a bit of a taboo in pop music circles to point out that Kylie's music can be very divisive, and her output is not necessarily as consistently brilliant as some would make out (c.f. "Red Blooded Woman" and "2 Hearts" as just a few recent examples). Nonetheless, to whet our appetites before it all kicks off on 28th June (it's going to be a good fortnight, pop fans), she's given a thirty second preview of the new single, "All The Lovers".



I think we can all agree we got a lot from that.

In all seriousness, this seems a definite (and therefore by default wise) departure from 2 Hearts which was largely responsible for the commercial disaster which was "X". In fact, it sounds to these ears very much a return to the "I Believe In You" school of pop, which would make sense given we know the two (along with Calvin Harris) have been in the studio together.

Also, lest we forget, if "All The Lovers" sounds even slightly like "I Believe In You" then it's safe to say Kylie's on to a winner.

Again, we eagerly await the full reveal.

One thing is for certain, however, the man at the heart of both of these make-or-break projects for these two paradigmatic twenty-first century pop artistes, has a big responsibility on his shoulders. Both Kylie and Scissor Sisters really need these albums to catapult them back to a place which is relevant, cutting edge and commercially viable. Both Kylie and Scissor Sisters have a fanbase which, whilst extremely dedicated, will only be further alienated if they are given two consecutive albums which don't quite hit the mark. Both Kylie and Scissor Sisters have therefore turned to this man, to try and work some magic on these crucial pop records:

We sincerely that Stuart Price is up to the challenge.

Wait a minute, this is the same man who bears responsibility for this:



"Nightwork" and "Aphrodite" going to be bloody amazing, aren't they?