Girl is the third studio album by Australian singer Dannii Minogue. It was released by Eternal Records on 8 September 1997 in the United Kingdom. Four singles were released to promote the album including the UK Dance Chart number ones "All I Wanna Do", "Everything I Wanted", "Disremembrance" and the Australian-only single, "Coconut". In November 2007, the album was reissued featuring slightly different artwork and a bonus disc of remixes by Rhino Entertainment. In 2022, to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary, Minogue announced an LP release on coloured, recycled vinyl through Warner Music Australia.[2][3]
Background
In 1995, Minogue had initially begun work on the follow-up album to Get into You. However, during recording sessions, Mushroom Records terminated their contract with Minogue. Following a divorce from Julian McMahon and a cover-shoot for Australian Playboy magazine, Minogue was approached by Warner Brothers Records to record a new album.
Recording
Sessions began in early 1997 with Ian Masterson and Brian Higgins.
Title and artwork
The album's name is a direct reference to the refrain "I may not be the innocent girl" in the album's lead single, "All I Wanna Do". The album artwork was shot by Steve Shaw and designed by Gerard Saint. In 2007, the re-issue featured slightly different artwork with Minogue's head tilted to face the camera and additional booklet design featuring lyrics and images from the album's respective music video shoots, also shot by Steve Shaw.
Composition
Girl was distinctively more dance-orientated than Minogue's previous work and stands as a dance,[4]trance,[5]techno[5] and electronica[5] album. The album opens with the lead single "All I Wanna Do", which contained a more emphasised hi-NRG sound[5] in contrast to the pop style. This would be felt on the rest of the album. The other tracks on Girl ranged from mature pop songs ("Heaven Can Wait", "Am I Dreaming?", "Everything I Wanted", "It's Amazing") to more techno-oriented tracks ("Disremembrance", "Movin' Up" and bonus tracks "Someone New", "Keep Up with the Good Times"). The album also included notable styles of dance music ("So in Love with Yourself", "If It Moves – Dub It", "Coconut") as well as ambient-infused sounds ("Everybody Changes Underwater").[citation needed]
Promotion
To promote the album, Minogue appeared on a variety of television shows for interviews and performances, in the United Kingdom and Australia, including Top of the Pops and TFI Friday. In 1998, Minogue also embarked on the Unleashed '98 tour consisting of 23 dates around the United Kingdom. Minogue was also part of the line-up for the Mushroom 25 Live concert held in Melbourne in 1998.
Singles
"All I Wanna Do" was released as the first single from the album on 11 August 1997. It peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 1 on the UK Dance Club Chart, in Australia, it peaked at number 11 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold.
"Everything I Wanted" was released as the second single on 20 October 1997. It peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and become her second single number 1 on the UK Dance Club Chart, while in Australia it peaked at number 44 on the ARIA Singles Chart.
"Disremembrance" was released on 16 March 1998 as the third single, was remixed by Flexifinger for release. It peaked at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart and become her third single number 1 on the UK Dance Club Chart. In Australia, it peaked at number 53 on the ARIA Singles Chart.
"Coconut" was released on 16 November 1998 as the fourth single in Australia only. It peaked at number 62 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The single featured the B-side "Someone New".
Other songs
Several remixes were commissioned of "Heaven Can Wait", some of which were on included on promotional releases of "Everything I Wanted"[6] and released on the "Coconut" single. Previously unreleased mixes of "Movin' Up'" were released on the deluxe edition of the album in 2007 as well as a radio edit version of "Someone New".
Despite commercial disappointment, Girl received a generally positive reception from music critics. John Lucas from AllMusic complimented the album, writing: "The music is no longer so concerned with aping American trends; it was clearly influenced by the British dance club sounds of the mid-'90s. In short, Dannii was finally carving an identity for herself." The AllMusic site gave the album four out of five stars.[9] Writing for Billboard magazine, Larry Flick complimented her vocal development as indicative of "an album that's free of cloying pretensions and unapologetic in its pure-pop approach to dance music".[10]
Commercial performance
Girl charted at number 57 in the United Kingdom on the UK Albums Chart and number 69 in Australia on the ARIA Albums Chart. It sold 15,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[11]
^Dillon, Charlotte. "Dannii Minogue Biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2022. ...Dannii Minogue spent the rest of the decade releasing dance-oriented records (Get into You, Girl)...
