Poor old Kylie. Whenever she tries to break out of the glitter-pop mould that she's cast for herself, the record-buying public gets ready to pounce. "Why doesn't she go back to proper pop music?" they cry. "She's gone all experimental again!" Though her first single since beating breast cancer was always going to be greeted with levels of goodwill normally reserved for a British victory in a major sporting event, '2 Hearts' has still managed to provoke a few quibbles. Why? Essentially because it's not 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' or 'Spinning Around'.

While it lacks the instant impact of Kylie's most transcendent moments, its cocksure electro-glam stomp becomes nigh on irresistible after a few spins. Over pounding piano riffs, a bassline like a slithering salamander and a cacophony of meltdown-at-the-nuclear-power-plant sound effects, Kylie turns delirious in the midst of an all-consuming love affair. "I sit in the dark with you," she purrs blissfully. "It feels like I never saw the sun." That she sounds so ecstatic just nine months after her nasty break-up with that feckless French actor is impressive; as well as being a peerless popstar, Miss Minogue is evidently a fabulous actress.