We mentioned the return of Kim Wilde not long ago in passing, but there's something about it that deserves a proper airing. Wilde, who lest we forget for long periods of her first time round was as great a sultress of pop as you could get and still carried off the whole earth mother thing during her gardening phase, has reached the stage of her career where she can afford to put out a 'new' album that is half re-recordings of hits from when she was much younger. Never Say Never, released across Europe on EMI but not in Britain, is an odd affair, promoted as a return to her pop-rock roots but full of just outmoded synth swooshes that don't work. Family favourites reappearing include You Keep Me Hangin' On as a duet with, of all people, Nena, a big guitar treadover of You Came and View From A Bridge rendered as hi-NRG. Not pretty so far, but what to do with the song that perhaps most of all has earned her a place in pop's pantheon, covered by among others Atomic Kitten, the Bloodhound Gang, Len, the Muffs and the Young Knives? What level of international crossover act can Wilde bring in to augment it and prove to the wary that this was an artistic gamble worth taking?
Kim Wilde feat. Charlotte Hatherley - Kids In America
Let's get it straight - Hatherley's forthcoming album The Deep Blue is tremendous sophisticated, airy alt-pop that may well earn her the wider kudos she's always deserved, and of course her first album Grey Will Fade features a track called Kim Wilde so it's all fair and square. What isn't is that whoever produced this seems to think that instead of the Eighties poutcore gem original they're working on an Olsen Twins record.
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