What is Kim Wilde’s new album “Closer” worth?

The early 80s pop star has left a lasting impression and is playing to sold-out audiences in Lausanne. Listen to the album and get your verdict.

The walls of the Palais de Beaulieu in Lausanne remember Kim Wilde’s first concerts, when hordes of spiky-haired teenagers – like her – flocked to hear her sing “Kids in America” ​​and “Cambodia” in 1983. Yes, Kim Wilde is a bit of a dream for teenagers who have become fifty-somethings. The enthusiasm generated by her concert scheduled at the Docks in Lausanne on 29 November proves that the English singer remains in the hearts of the public. As soon as it was announced, it sold out.

“Closer,” her 15th album, is a nod to “Close,” her biggest hit, which contained her hit “You Came” in 1988. Good news, Kim avoids the temptation of a rehash of the formula of the time in 2025. Instead, the Wilde clan reconnects with the sound with new wave inclinations of the beginning, between 1981 and 1983. Before it got lost in more or less successful commercial attempts. Yes, her vast catalog contains unknown gems, like so many comets condemned too soon to obscurity. But water has flowed under the bridge. And it is exactly this newfound freedom that makes “Closer” enjoyable. Kim Wilde has nothing more to prove, and it suits her rather well. She does not apologize for anything, but she has fun. “Finally!” we are tempted to exclaim.

We start with the delectable “Midnight Train”. A sort of unidentified object suspended in the Wildosphere, the title is distinguished by its absence of chorus. The pop star goes back in time with a composition that recalls the great era of the poster boys of the 80s, Duran Duran. Phew, it starts well. We can feel the touch of Ricky, her faithful brother composer and producer. The same one she heard tinkering on his keyboard with the melody of “Kids in America” in the room next door at their parents’ house in 1980.

We continue with “Scorpio” (her astrological sign). The boys’ choruses in “ouhouhou” will give chills to the fans of the first hour. Even in her vocals, she is no longer ashamed of her rock side. The next one, “Trail of Destruction”, the first single from the album released a few months ago, recalls the synthetic FM rock flights that Kim Wilde has the secret to. Then comes the symphonic “Sorrow Replaced” which, despite the singer’s vocal prowess and the contribution of Midge Ure, from Ultravox, does not arouse much interest.

Let’s move on without further ado to “Lighthouse”, an angelic lullaby for young and old as a respite from the torments of this crazy world. A song that is in the pure style that made the singer the mystery she was in Laurent Voulzy’s heart when he sang about his nights without Kim Wilde in 1985… “Love is Love” takes off like a potential hit, proudly erected as an LGBTQ+ dancefloor anthem. The next one, the sexy “Rocket to the Moon”, has the makings of a classic. Very “blondiesque” on this title, Kim Wilde rises to the level of Debbie Harry, with whom she was often compared at the very beginning of her career.

Ode to “girl power”

We soar on “Hourglass Human”, a duet with her niece Scarlett Wilde, who we suspect is largely responsible for the energetic freshness that blows on this new production. We think again of Duran Duran. Except that this is an ode to girl power. Sorry guys. 100% Kim Wilde, perhaps the pinnacle of the album. Successful transition to “Stones and Bones”, a pop bridge with the carefreeness camouflaging the demons of the 80s. The decade of “Midnight Demons” and AIDS. The production strangely resurrects the melancholy of “Une autre histoire” by Gérard Blanc in 1986. This new chapter closes with the captivating, even hypnotizing “Savasana”.

Conclusion? By reclaiming the legitimacy of being herself and forgiving herself for certain errors scattered throughout her up-and-down career, Kim Wilde rediscovers the soul that characterized her first steps on the front of the stage. See you at the Docks in November!

When she was called the Brigitte Bardot of rock

For those who weren’t born in 1981, here’s a little Kim Wilde recap that’s nicer than Wikipedia. In the early 80s, American Debbie Harry, leader of the disco punk combo Blondie, covered the walls of teenagers’ bedrooms while her group was riding high on the best-selling charts. “Heart of Glass” was hers. Magnetic in her leopard-print negligees, she was the pin-up in charge of her own fate. But that didn’t take into account a young Englishwoman who was going to shake her pedestal. In January 1981, Kim Wilde hit the airwaves with her first song, the classic “Kids in America”. With her pouting face and spiky blonde hair, she was going to feed the fantasies of teenagers in her turn. A big favorite of teen magazines, this then prolific teen press, she was nicknamed “the Brigitte Bardot of rock”. Her brother Ricky and her father Marty concocted tailor-made hits for her. “Cambodia”, “View From a Bridge”, “Love Blonde” and others. At the bottom of the wave when the formula was running out of steam, the public saw her reappear from nowhere. In 1986, she made her mark in the United States with her cover of the Supremes “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”. Two years later, her hit “You Came” helped to consolidate her status as the princess of English pop for a long time.