Posted by Lockdown Queen and all-round star Sophie Ellis-Bextor kept the nation entertained during quarantine, with her IG Live kitchen discos showing her at her most relaxed. The sight of someone living their best life, it’s apt that she follows those sessions with what is – in essence – a Best Of, a glorious pop resume that CV you just how strong her catalogue truly is.
Opening with a new version of the immortal Groovejet banger ‘If This Ain’t Love’, the record hops from period to period in her life – from a re-working of Millennial club hit ‘Crying At The Discotheque’ through to rather more sombre fare.
A fantastically broad pop experience, ‘Songs From The Kitchen Disco’ reflects the anything-goes atmosphere of those IG sessions. So you’ll get the pounding disco of ‘Wild Forever’ and the slinky 80s pop of ‘Come With Us’, matched to a neat take on New Order’s peerless single ‘True Faith’.
Closing with a fun take on ‘My Favourite Things’, this is a record geared to be sheer entertainment, driven forward by Sophie’s super-enthusiastic, wholly unironic love for the source material. Sure, the karaoke elements in the production – and, indeed, the concept itself – root the album in a specific time and place, but there’s nothing really wrong with that. It’s playful and plastic, in the way pop really should be.
Seizing the moment, Sophie Ellis-Bextor has shone fresh light on her inimitable pop approach, recasting these songs in her own manner. ‘Songs From The Kitchen Disco’ is the ideal tonic for those winter blues.
7/10
Words: Robin Murray
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