2 Hearts (Kylie Minogue song)

Background and release

Before X ever commenced, Minogue was promoting her 2004 greatest hits album Ultimate Kylie with her tour Kylie Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour. After performing in Europe and the United Kingdom, Minogue then was scheduled to perform in Australia and Asia. However, on 17 May 2005, Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 36. This lead her management to postpone the remainder of the tour and her appearance to the Glastonbury Festival. She was hospitalized in Melbourne so treatment could go ahead, but lead to a brief but intense period of media coverage, particularly in Australia. Minogue underwent surgery on 21 May 2005 at Cabrini Hospital in Malvern, and commenced chemotherapy treatment soon after.

After recovering from her diagnosis, Minogue began writing lyrics towards the end of her cancer treatment in mid-2006, having not worked on any music for the previous year. Due to the recovery time following her cancer, X was the first album Minogue had consciously prepared for the recording of, having previously been engaged for much of her career in an endless cycle of record, release and tour. After she was clear of the disease, Minogue has resumed her tour, entitled "Showgirl Homecoming". She first performed in Sydney, with reworks of the dance routines as well as new costumes and outfits for the show. Just leading into 2007, Minogue had scheduled dates for the United Kingdom.

The song and its remixes were leaked onto file sharing websites on 9 October 2007. "2 Hearts" was released in various formats throughout the world. While most territories received a CD single and digital download release, the song was also released as a limited edition vinyl single in the United Kingdom. The song was promotionally released in New Zealand as a CD Single, where fans got free copies, due to the promotion of Minogue's film White Diamond. In the United Kingdom, "2 Hearts" was officially solicited to radio on 10 October 2007.

Recording and composition

After recovering from breast cancer, Minogue had started recording material for the production of X. She first started recording tracks in London, England for the studio album. "2 Hearts" was written and originally recorded by London-based electro group Kish Mauve, who gave the song to Minogue. Commenting on the song, Minogue said that she "loved it from the moment I heard it". She also described the recording sessions with Kish Mauve as "a joy". With additional production of Kish Mauve, they had also produced a track called "Lose Control".

Musically, "2 Heats" is a pop rock-oriented song, which feature elements of glam rock and Rock and roll. The song features instrumentation of electric guitars, guitars, drums, keyboards and piano riffs. The song also features "whooo"'s towards the singles chorus. In the verses, the song follows the chord progression Am-G. In the chorus, it follows the progression F-Dm7-Am-C. Although it hasn't been explained, fans have found the song talks about Minogue falling in love with someone (2 Hearts are beating together/I'm in love) while she feels she is forgetting about herself as well (You make me feel invisible).

Critical response

Upon its release, "2 Hearts" received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. Victoria Newton from The Sun, described the song as "a surefire number one", remarking that "it's on a par with "Can't Get You Out of My Head". Tom Ewing from Pitchfork Media compared the song to the music of Goldfrapp, and wrote that "it's an unexpected stylistic move" and "it plays to her strengths". Chris True from Allmusic highlighted the song as an album standout. Alexis Petridis from The Guardian said the song "offers a winning glam, piano-driven stomp." Evan Sawdey from PopMatters was very positive towards the song, saying "From the sexy bass that sets up the opening track "2 Hearts", it's obvious that she’s not only going to go back to her disco sex-kitten persona [...] "2 Hearts"—aside from being one of her best singles in years—makes for an incredible album opener." Though Dave Hughes from Slant Magazine said that "2 Hearts" "serviceable rip of Goldfrapp's glammier slinks, kicks things off well" he felt that Minogue was playing it too safe. The Boston Globe highlighted the song as the album's best track, and said ""2 Hearts," the glammy lead track, is the heaviest song here, musically speaking, and also the freshest, even though the stomping, swaggering gem is a blast from the Marc Bolan-esque past."

However, the song did received negative reviews from music critics. Sarah Walters of the Manchester Evening News was less impressed, commenting that "it takes more than a bunch of singable wooh's to maketh the memorable single". Drowned in Sound reviewer Alex Denney called "2 Hearts" a "disappointment", stating that "it's a genetic three-way splice of the burlesque chic Christina Aguilera's been peddling for the last 12 months to a worldwide chorus of mehs, Alison Goldfrapp's vampish electro shtick and, quite literally, Feist's "1234".

Rolling Stone ranked "2 Hearts" at number ninety-four on its list of the Top 100 Songs of 2007, even though the song had not been released in the United States. The song also ranked at number forty on Stylus Magazine's Top 50 Songs of 2007. In 2010, the song was voted as Minogue's best single to date, as announced in a YouTube video.

Chart performance

The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number twelve on 11 November 2007, based solely on digital download sales. It reached a peak position of number four on 19 November 2007, and remained in the top seventy-five for a total of thirteen weeks. "2 Hearts" debuted at number twenty-nine on the Irish Singles Chart, a week before its physical single release. The track reached a peak position of number twelve in the Ireland the following week, and remained in the top fifty for seven weeks.

The song was successful elsewhere. In her native Australia, the song debuted at number one on the Australian Singles Chart, becoming her first number one since "Slow" and her tenth number one overall. It lasted in the charts for thirteen weeks. In Sweden, the song debuted at thirty-nine, until rising and peaking at three for two consecutive weeks. It is Minogue's highest single since "Can't Get You Out of My Head" (2002). The song debuted at number six in Norway where it eventually peaked. The song debuted at ten on the Italian Singles Chart, where it peaked at number two. The song also charted in European countries including Switzerland, Austria, France, Belgium, Denmark and The Netherlands.

However, the song was not as successful in New Zealand, where it debuted at number thirty-four, until falling off. The song re-entered at thirty-eight, due to the copies given at the premiere of her film White Diamond: A Personal Portrait of Kylie Minogue. This was her last single to chart until "Higher" and her last solo single until "Timebomb". The song wasn't successful in Canada as well, where it only charted at number sixty for a sole week.

Music video

The music video for "2 Hearts" was directed by Dawn Shadforth and filmed at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England in September 2007. The video features Minogue in 2 different scenes: dressed in a black latex catsuit, red lipstick and curly blonde hair performing with her band & another scene where she has a plain black dress, and in a darker, more mysterious environment. It is similar to Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot. It begins with Minogue singing into a microphone on top of a piano. The video concludes with Minogue and her band performing on a stage with multi-colored confetti falling around them.

Minogue drew inspiration from London nightclub BoomBox, where she DJed during London Fashion Week. The costumes worn by Minogue and her band were designed by Gareth Pugh and Christopher Kane. The video premiered on GMTV on 10 October 2007.

"2 Hearts" was used in promotional advertisements for the ABC sitcom Cougar Town starring Courteney Cox.

Live performances

Minogue performed the song on the following concert tours:

The song was also performed on:

Personnel

The following people contributed to "2 Hearts":