First Listen: Kylie Minogue - "Timebomb"

When British dance icon Luciana Caporaso unveiled her would-be solo debut album Pop My Trigger in December (licensing complications prevented an official release), one of the tracks, "Glitter and Gold," seemed to me like a perfect track for another legend of dance-pop, Kylie Minogue. Perhaps I wasn't too off the mark; Minogue's brand new single "Timebomb," officially released tomorrow in the UK and Australia in honor of the diva's upcoming 44th birthday, is a rich, throbbing number that sounds like it could have come from the pen of Luciana herself.

Set over a dense beat and bass line with the sort of commanding effect that made Little Boots' "Shake" so irresistible, "Timebomb" is exactly the kind of hushed, medium-intensity dance track that Minogue has always done so well. Her characteristic mix of melody and whisper gives the number a sense of cunning and mystique, and it's exactly the kind of song Minogue can pull off as she climbs higher into her forties yet declines to lapse into insecurity or irrelevance in this ageist industry. Her spunky "ooh oohs" further the Luciana resemblance, which is a solid realm to inhabit for this seemingly ageless member of dance-pop royalty. Perhaps it's a wink to her age releasing a song called "Timebomb" to mark her 44th birthday, but winking is what Kylie Minogue does best, after all.

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Kylie Minogue's new single "Timebomb" will be released on iTunes in Australia on Friday, May 25. (Edit 5/26: "Timebomb" is now available on US iTunes as well.)