| Confide in Me | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Single by Kylie Minogue | ||
| From the album Kylie Minogue | ||
| A-side | "Where Is the Feeling?" | |
| B-side | ||
| Released | 29 August 1994 | |
| Recorded | 1994 | |
| Length | 5:51 | |
| Label |
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| Kylie Minogue singles chronology | ||
 (1992) |
(1994) |
 (1994) |
| Kylie Minogue track listing | ||
| "Confide in Me" (1) |
"Surrender" (2) | |
| Music Video | ||
| ||
"Confide in Me" is a song recorded by Kylie Minogue, taken from her self-titled studio album (1994). It was released as the album's lead single on 29 August 1994, and was her first single to be distributed by Deconstruction; Imago Records, and Mushroom also released it as a CD single, cassette tape and 12" and 7" vinyl. 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 during 1994.
Musically, it is a pop song that uses elements of indie music, dance-pop, and Middle Eastern instrumentation such as strings and percussion, whilst the lyrical content talks about Kylie's earnest of seduction and manipulating people to confide into her. Upon its release, "Confide in Me" received critical acclaim from music critics. Several critics selected the track as a standout from many of her records and compilation, whilst individual reviews commended Kylie's vocals, the production and influence of Middle Eastern elements. The track received nominations at some award ceremonies, along with being listed on critic's year-end lists.
Commercially, the track experienced success in regions like Australia, United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland, France, and New Zealand, whereas it performed moderately elsewhere and reached the top 40 in Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. It also became Kylie's only charting single in the US during the 1990s period, having peaked at 39 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. An accompanying music video was directed by Paul Boyd in Los Angeles, California during July 1994; it featured six different videos of Kylie in a commercial to help the audience confide their numerous problems to each character.
The song has been performed on Kylie's concert tours including Intimate and Live, On a Night Like This Tour, and also on her Aphrodite World Tour in 2011. Since its release, "Confide in Me" has be noted by critics and publications as one of the most iconic and innovative singles from the 1990s era, and Kylie's singles history, and has been recognised by authors as an important period of Kylie's career and musical "re-inventions". Alongside this, it has been sampled and covered by musicians, and used in several media.
Background and production
After Kylie's final single release, her cover version of the Kool and the Gang's track "Celebration" with the record label PWL, she left them and signed a contract to UK dance label Deconstruction Records in 1993. During the time of her final singles with PWl, she felt that her producers, the British trio Stock, Aitken, and Waterman were treating her "very much [like] a puppet in the beginning. I was blinkered by my record company. I was unable to look left or right." "Confide in Me" was written by Steve Anderson, Dave Seaman, and Owain Barton, whilst production was handled by British trio Brothers in Rhythm, whom the former two writers are members of.
According to British author Sean Smith, who wrote a biography detailing Kylie's career, Brothers in Rhythm had developed a demo version of the song in just under an hour, and Kylie has been travelling to her Chelsea, London home. Kylie was contacted by the members of Brothers in Rhythm to record the track, so she went to their homebase to record the track in one take. Seaman was surprised with the development process, stating to Smith; "It just all kind of flowed out and slotted into place, which is usually the case with the good stuff." Anderson was impressed with the demo that he decided to use it as the final recording; he commented "Obviously, there were embellishments to it and we spent a lot of time on the whole production, but it was still the original one that we were using." However, some additional vocals by Kylie were recorded at DMC and Sarm West Studios in London, United Kingdom, and was mixed in the same locations by Niall Flynn and Paul West.
Live performances
"Confide in Me" has been performed on several concert tours by Kylie. It was first performed on Kylie's 1998 Intimate and Live concert tour, where it appeared in the fifth section, preceding performances of "The Loco-Motion" and "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?". It was also performed in her fifth segment of the On a Night Like This Tour, following a performance of "Butterfly". The song was included in the Streetstyle section of her KylieFever2002 tour, where Kylie portrayed a police officer who, throughout this section, mixes with the kids on the street. The song was included on the Showgirl Tour, where it served as the final song in the "Denial" section. This tour was discontinued however, due to Kylie's breast cancer diagnosis in 2005; it was revamped in 2006 however, as the Homecoming Tour, where "Confide in Me" was included on the setlist again, this time opening the "Samsara" section. Kylie performed an a cappella version during her KylieX2008 tour, where it was during the encore section at Frankfurt on 10 May 2008. The version used in the Showgirl Tour was used in the For You, For Me tour, which was Kylie's first time touring in North America; it was performed in the fifth section, between performances of "White Diamond" and "I Believe in You". The song was also performed on the Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour, where it opened the fifth section; here, an interlude preceded it which used elements of the Big Brothers Mix, before Kylie emerged in a holographic dress to perform a remixed version of the song. The song was most recently preformed at the 2016 shows of the Christmas concert series, where John Grant made a guest appearance.
The Abbey Road sessions version was performed during the Golden Tour, where Kylie emerged after an interlude of "Blue Velvet" in a white ensemble.