Unlike many of her 1980s compatriots, Kim Wilde is not labouring under delusions of glory. She’s only too happy to head off on nostalgia package tours, present gardening shows and make a campy album named after an alien landing that she claims took place on her lawn in Hertfordshire in 2009.
“I’m worried he’s going to beam me up and I’ll have to sing Kids in America to him for the rest of my life,” said Wilde of her fear of being abducted by a starship trooper. Thankfully that didn’t happen, leaving her to sing instead about the joys of a lifetime in pop (Pop Don’t Stop), the wonders of love (Addicted to You) and internet trolls (Cyber Nation War).
None of this is in any way deep or groundbreaking, but it is completely unpretentious and, with the perkiest aspects of glam, new wave and pure pop coming together for a big retro dance party, great fun too. (Wildeflower Records)