It’s a 4K music video y’all, as Kylie, Kylie, Kylie and Kylie team up to break the “Tension”

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A shot from the music video for “Tension”. Featuring a holographic Kylie Minogue in a silver dress and a red wig, reaching out her fingers towards a smaller Kylie in a pink dress, who also has her arm reached out with her finger pointed.

When Kylie released that hideous single cover at for “Tension”, it was very clear we were going to get a music video which featured different versions of Kylie. And that’s exactly what we got.

This is such a weird and whacky video, and it’s so cool that Kylie agreed to it. Although, when I think back on Kylie’s videography, there are some very weird and whacky videos within it, some of which also feature multiple Kylie’s, such as “Come into My World”, “Did It Again” and “Confide in Me”.

The music video for “Tension” is directed by Sophie Muller, who is now a staple Kylie collaborator, having also directed “Padam Padam” and Kylie’s last six music videos before that, in addition to three of the music videos from her 2018 album Golden.

A shot from the music video for “Tension”. Featuring two Kylie’s sat at a table, conversing with one another. The Kylie on the left is wearing a black dress and has platinum blonde hair and black lipstick. The Kylie on the right is wearing a pink wool dress.
Kylie Minogue - Tension | Kylie Minogue / Darenote

I’m not a big fan of Sophie Muller’s videos for Kylie. All of them feel kinda rough around the edges in the worst ways and they are always so inconsistent. Some of the shots and the cinematography is great. And some of it is just hideous.

One thing which really stood out to me about “Tension” was how bad the composting shots were. They looked so noticeably bad to the point that I initially wondered if it was intentional. But then I thought about how raggedy some of Sophie’s other videos for Kylie looked and thought ‘Nah. It probably wasn’t.’ If the video was shot on film or had effects put on it in post production to look like it was shot in the 80s, a la Blade Runner and Dune (the former of which I feel was a big influence on this video) then the dodgy compositing would have absolutely worked and not stood out so much to me. Otherwise, there was no reason for it to look as bad as it did, unless it was a stylistic choice. But if something done as a stylistic choice isn’t clearly a stylistic choice, then its failed.

A shot from the music video for “Tension”. Featuring Kylie walking across a barren plain and into a small hut with a neon strip light on its roof.
Kylie Minogue - Tension | Kylie Minogue / Darenote

Aside from better compositing, my only other addition to this video would have been a Kylie look and setup which was green - just to give the whole song a colour theme, the same way that “Padam Padam” had with red. Based on Kylie’s social media posts and also the cover art for the song, the colour for “Tension” is green, but none of that comes through in the music video, which is kinda weird and unfortunate.

But Kylie looks great in the video and is clearly having fun, and “Tension” is a good song.

💿 Kylie album reviews: Disco | Kylie Christmas | Kiss Me Once | Aphrodite | Fever

🎛️ A Kylie mashup: Kylie Minogue x Perfume
🎚️ An unofficial Kylie extended mix: “Padam Padam” with an extra minute of Padam

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