For the second successive album, Kylie Minogue finds herself in the previously-unthinkable position of not needing to chase either popularity or hipness: she now has the luxury of taking both these things for granted. Perhaps as a result, Body Language is an incredibly assured record. As well as the superbly minimal single, "Slow", there are some wonderful electro-funk cuts from Kurtis Mantronik ("Promises") and juicy bass-driven efforts from Baby Ash ("Still Standing"). Cathy Dennis hasn't quite reworked her "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" magic on "After Dark", and "Red Blooded Woman" is such an outrageous rewrite of Destiny's Child's "Survivor" that you wonder why someone in the record company didn't raise a hand and say "Er, this has already been done". Highlights are "I Feel For You" (not the Prince/Chaka one), a surreal piece of 21st-century P-funk reminiscent of Outkast, and "Someday", featuring the honeyed larynx of Green Gartside from the sublime Scritti Politti: among her many other qualities, Miss Minogue evidently has the best possible taste.

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