"Cowboy Style" | ||||
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Single by Kylie Minogue | ||||
from the album Impossible Princess | ||||
B-side | "Love Takes Over Me" | |||
Released | 5 October 1998 [1] | |||
Studio | Real World (Box, England) [2] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:44 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) |
| |||
Producer(s) | Brothers in Rhythm | |||
Kylie Minogue singles chronology | ||||
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"Cowboy Style" is a song recorded by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue, for her sixth studio album Impossible Princess (1997). The song was released as the fourth and final single in Australia only on 5 October 1998 [1] through Mushroom Records. Minogue wrote the track with Steve Anderson and Dave Seaman while Brothers in Rhythm produced it. Backed by guitars, synthesisers and drum instruments, "Cowboy Style" is a Celtic pop track in which Minogue sings about her relationship with her then-boyfriend, French director Stephane Sednaoui. Critical response to "Cowboy Style" was positive, with praise driven to Minogue's songwriting and the song's composition; some critics highlighted it as a career stand-out track. Released in Australia and New Zealand, the song charted at number 39 on the Australian Singles Chart.
Minogue promoted "Cowboy Style" by performing it on her Intimate and Live Tour from June to August 1998. One of the live performances, directed by Michael Williams, was used as the music video. She later performed it on her Fever Tour (2002) and Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour (2006). The song was later included in the track list of Minogue's compilation albums Confide in Me (2002) and Confide in Me: The Irresistible Kylie (2007).
"Cowboy Style" was written by Minogue, Steve Anderson and Dave Seaman, and was one of the first songs composed for the album. [3] Minogue wrote the song prior to being in a relationship with French photographer Stephane Sednaoui with different lyrical context, but it was completed while she was dating. [3] Of the song, Minogue said "the way you start a new relationship with someone, they can bring out so many emotions within you and makes you question yourself a bit more." [3] The title "Cowboy Style" comes from when she first met Sednaoui in person, where she recalled him looking "unusual" and felt like he was "the new cowboy coming into town". [3]
Following the weak commercial performances of the album and its previous singles, Minogue left Deconstruction Records. [4] While performing on her Intimate and Live concert tour in Australia, Minogue confirmed that she would release "Cowboy Style" as the fourth single in Australia and New Zealand by Mushroom Records. [4] The single's artwork was shot during the Intimate and Live tour by Simon Emmert, which featured Minogue with a leather bra and a cowboy hat on. [5] Idolator listed the artwork as one of "Kylie's Best Single Covers", saying "Leather bra and a cowboy hat. Enough said." [6] An unedited shot of the cover was featured in her Kylie photo album book, released in August 1999. [5]
"Cowboy Style" was recorded at Real World Studios, Sarm West and DMC Studios in London, England and was mixed by Alan Bremner at Real World. [7] Instrumentally, Greg Bones and Anderson played the guitar, Johnnie Hardie played the fiddle, and all other instrumentals played by Anderson. [7] "Cowboy Style" is a Celtic pop song that lasts a duration of four minutes and forty-four seconds. [7] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine commented that "Cowboy Style features a tribal percussion break and a string quartet that sounds more Celtic than country." [8] Online music critic Adrian Denning compared the song to the work of Icelandic recording artist and songwriter Björk. [9] Nick Levine from Digital Spy said "Oh, and in 'Cowboy Style', it has a track that manages to sound a little bit Celtic and a little bit Middle Eastern. Pete Waterman must have wept." [10]
"Cowboy Style" received positive reviews from music critics. A reviewer from Who magazine was positive towards the track, stating it was "an almost Eastern feel under a free-flowing melody", as well as "classic poppy Kyles." [11] Cameron Adams from Herald Sun also commended the track, saying it "manages to border from country music and remain cool." [12] Gary James from Entertainment Focus praised all the songs on Impossible Princess written by Minogue, and selected "Cowboy Style", along with "Say Hey", "Too Far" and "Limbo", as tracks in which the singer was able to portray a "sense of claustrophobia and uncertainty". [13] According to Stockport Times' Anthony Loman, Brothers in Rhythm's production, as well as its "electric fiddle", make the song "work well". [14] Owen Myers of Pitchfork labelled it as one of the "slight almost-anthems" from the album. [15]
John Mangan from The Age was positive in his review, saying the song was a "funky hoe-down sound". [16] Online critic Adrian Denning found the track "impressive, eastern flavored". [17] Louis Virtel from The Backlot listed the song at number 11 on their list of Minogue's best songs and stated: "This stylistic mishmash (featuring a deep Celtic sound that, maybe, Alison Krauss could fiddle along with) is a hard-driving, adrenalized, sexualized quest for freedom. How do you deal with the fact that Kylie sings, 'I am frightened, I'm aroused, I'm enlightened to the now' and totally sells it?" [18] Josh Martin from MTV Australia placed the track at number 16 on his list of Minogue's best singles, commenting it was "one of the richest instrumentals on Impossible Princess". [19] "Cowboy Style" entered on the ARIA Charts at number 39 on 18 October 1998. [20] [21] It became the lowest charting single from the Impossible Princess album. [22]
The music video for "Cowboy Style" was directed by Michael Williams and taped at a sound check at one of the Intimate and Live shows in June 1998. [23] The music video was dubbed with the radio edit, and it was featured on the CD single. The music video was released on the DVD version of Greatest Hits 87–99 in June 2003. [24]
Minogue performed "Cowboy Style" on the Australian morning TV series Hey Hey It's Saturday . [25] Minogue included the song on the set list for her 1998 concert tour Intimate and Live. The performance was recorded on 30 June and 1 July at Capitol Theatre in Sydney, and appeared on the related CD and DVD. [26] [27] The live version also appeared on her promotional single "Dancing Queen". [28] "Cowboy Style" was included on her 2002 Australian and European Fever Tour. [29] The performance featured Minogue standing on a level of staircases, dressed in a bright-pink sleeveless jacket with white cargo pants. The performance was recorded on 4 May 2002 at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, and was released on 4 November that same year. [30] The song's most recent performance was on the Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour in 2006. The performance was recorded on 12 November 2006 in Sydney, Australia and was released as a double CD set. [31]
"Cowboy Style" was released in mid-1997 in the UK on a cassette tape with all other album tracks as part of a promotional release and a CD sampler. [32] [33] "Cowboy Style" has been featured on many of Minogue's compilation albums. Its first appearance was on her 2002 BMG greatest hits compilation album Confide in Me , a compilation consisting majority of her singles and tracks from her Deconstruction period; Heather Phares from AllMusic praised the Impossible Princess tracks including "Cowboy Style". [34] It then appeared on her 2003 compilation album Greatest Hits: 87–99 , and her 2004 album Artist Collection , which included most of her Impossible Princess era. [35] [36] It appeared on the first disc of Confide in Me: The Irresistible Kylie released in July 2007 by UK independent label Music Club and her K25: Time Capsule by Warner Music Australia. [37] [38]
CD single [39]
Digital music video download [40] [41]
Personnel are adapted from the album's liner notes. [7]
Chart (1998) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [42] | 39 |
Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Mushroom Records released it on 22 September 2000 in Australia; Parlophone released it on 25 September 2000 in the United Kingdom. Following the commercial failure of Impossible Princess (1997), Minogue left Deconstruction Records and took a hiatus from recording music. She signed with Parlophone in June 1999 and decided to return to her pop roots. She worked with various writers and producers, including Steve Anderson, Johnny Douglas, Robbie Williams, Guy Chambers, and Mark Picchiotti.
Hits + is a compilation album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, which was released on 7 November 2000 by Deconstruction Records. The album was the last compilation album which was released by the record label at the time, because Minogue had released her then Parlophone album Light Years (2000). The album peaked at number sixty-three in Australia on the ARIA albums chart.
Impossible Princess is the sixth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, released on 22 October 1997, by Deconstruction, BMG and Mushroom Records. The singer asserted greater creative control over the project — writing every song on the album and producing material for the first time — compared to her previous work, assisted by Brothers in Rhythm, Manic Street Preachers, David Ball and Rob Dougan. Influenced by the techno and Britpop revolution in the mid-to-late 1990s, sonically, Impossible Princess is a departure from Minogue's previous work. Conceived as an experimental record, the material encompasses a variety of darker styles from dance music, including trip hop, electronica, and rock. Lyrically, the album focuses on Minogue's self-discovery after a series of trips worldwide and delves into freedom of expression, relationships, and emotions.
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Impossible Remixes is the fourth remix album by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue. It was released on 8 July 1998 by Mushroom Records. The album was materialized while on her Intimate and Live Tour (1998) and contains remixes from her sixth studio album Impossible Princess (1997). Originally scheduled for a 1999 release, Mushroom released Impossible Remixes in Australia in July 1998 after releasing the UK counterpart Mixes (1998) earlier than its original date.
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"Confide in Me" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue from her self-titled fifth studio album (1994). It was released as the album's lead single on 29 August 1994 by Deconstruction, Imago, and Mushroom Records. The track was written by Steve Anderson, Dave Seaman, and Owain Barton, whilst production was handled by British trio Brothers in Rhythm. It was recorded in London, United Kingdom at DMC and Sarm West Studios. Musically, it is a pop song that incorporates elements of indie music, dance-pop, and Middle Eastern instrumentation such as strings and percussion, whilst the lyrical content talks about Minogue's earnest of seduction and manipulating people to confide into her.
"Put Yourself in My Place" is a song recorded by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, taken from her fifth and eponymous studio album (1994). It was released as the record's second single on 14 November 1994, and was distributed by Deconstruction and Mushroom as a CD single, cassette tape and 12-inch vinyl. The track was written, arranged, and produced by Jimmy Harry, and was recorded in New York City with the parent album's engineer Doug Deangelis. A ballad that discusses themes of ending a relationship and moving on, the song's sound incorporates musical elements of trip hop and pop music.
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Stephen John Anderson is a British musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his work with Kylie Minogue on her tours and albums, and as part of the production group Brothers in Rhythm. He has also worked on songs and albums for many recording artists such as Britney Spears, Westlife, Christophe Willem, Judie Tzuke and Susan Boyle.
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