BMG Releases New Kylie Minogue Album
BMG has released Kylie Minogue’s new album. “Disco: Guest List Edition” follows the release of her number one album “Disco” in 2020. The success of the Australian-British musician, who has enjoyed great popularity for decades, is due in part to A&R manager Jamie Nelson at BMG, who recently received an award for his work.
BMG released three Kylie Minogue albums in three consecutive years, and all three made it to number one in the charts in at least the U.K. – as was the case most recently with “Disco” in 2020. Another year has gone by, and BMG has just released the fourth album by the Australian-British singer, who signed a worldwide recording deal with Bertelsmann’s music company in 2017. So it should only be a matter of time before “Disco: Guest List Edition,” the new album, also hits the top of the charts. Jamie Nelson is one of the people responsible for Minogue’s successes, but of course not only for hers. An A&R manager at BMG, Nelson has worked with the artist for about 20 years and was recently named Best Adult Contemporary A&R for the past two years at the prestigious British A&R Awards, presented by Music Business Worldwide, a news and analysis website for the music industry.
As the name suggests, “Disco: Guest List Edition” contains completely new songs created in collaboration with celebrity guests including Dua Lipa, Jessie Ware, Years & Years and Gloria Gaynor. But the album also includes remixes of her “Disco” tracks “Real Groove,” “Say Something,” “Magic,” and “Dance Floor Darling.” “A Second to Midnight,” featuring Years & Years, the solo project of British musician Olly Alexander, was the first single release from the new album. Its music video was viewed more than four million times on YouTube alone. „ Said Minogue: “Thank you Years & Years for joining me on this song! I had so much fun channeling my inner Olly in this video – felt like a KING.” Years & Years said: “Working with Kylie was a literal dream come true. Her music has consistently inspired me since I was a kid, she is a true icon, I am pinching myself this actually happened!”
A myriad of formats
Kylie was joined by British pop sensation Jessie Ware to write the song “Kiss of Life” along with James Ford, Danny Parker, and Shungudzo. The music video, shot with a vintage ‘70s aesthetic, finds the two stars at a stylish London restaurant. The remix of “Real Groove” features British pop superstar Dua Lipa. The song arrived after Minogue made an appearance on Dua Lipa’s Studio 2054 livestream in late 2020, where she performed “Real Groove.” To no one’s surprise, the single scored Number One in the UK Singles Sales Chart. And finally, legendary disco icon Gloria Gaynor joined Minogue for the brand-new “Can’t Stop Writing Songs About You.” “Disco: Guest List Edition” is released in a myriad of formats, including digital CD and vinyl. Fans are able to experience last year’s incredible “Infinite Disco” livestream performance again for the first time with the “Disco: Guest List Edition” (Deluxe Limited). This version also includes the 16 Disco (Deluxe) tracks, the new collaboration tracks, plus remixes.
2020’s “Disco” was Kylie Minogue’s first studio album since 2018’s “Golden,” released by BMG, which hit Number One in both Britain and Australia. In 2019, BMG had released Kylie Minogue’s career-spanning album “Step Back In Time – The Definitive Collection,” which also debuted at the top spot in the UK Albums Chart.
Kylie’s singles have spent over 300 weeks in the Official UK Singles Chart Top 40, and she has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide. Kylie has multiple awards and accolades to her name, including three Brit Awards, two MTV Music Awards and a Grammy. Her 2019 Glastonbury performance was the most-watched TV moment in the festival’s history.
‘One of the toughest jobs in music’
This success is owed in part to the experienced employees of the music companies involved – such as BMG’s Jamie Nelson, who, as mentioned above, was recently named best “Adult Contemporary A&R” of the past two years – no awards were given last year due to the pandemic. The London-based music executive has long worked for Kylie Minogue, but is also currently working with Louis Tomlinson, lead singer of the British-Irish boy band One Direction. Tomlinson signed a global partnership with BMG just this past May, and is now working on his second solo album. As A&R manager – “A&R” stands for “Artists and Repertoire” – Nelson’s job is to sign artists and help them produce albums. As he did with Kylie Minogue’s album “Disco,” her most successful album in ten years. “It’s an honor, but any A&R is only as good as the artists they work with, and I’d like to thank our UK roster for making us all look good,” the BMG manager said modestly when the award was presented to him. Projects he is currently working on include albums by indie-pop trio Cassia and jazz-soul singer Lady Blackbird, as well as productions for Louis Tomlinson. “The Louis album is developing extremely well and I think he is going to surprise a lot of people,” said Nelson. “Meanwhile in Cassia, we have a band which has really flourished despite the lockdown and in Lady Blackbird, I am convinced we have found a unique new voice who will reach a broad audience.” Alistair Norbury, President Repertoire & Marketing, at BMG in the UK, adds, “A&R is one of the toughest and most competitive jobs in music, so we are delighted that Jamie has been recognized in this way.”
