Kylie Minogue

Kylie's voice has evolved quite a lot since the beginning.

1987-1993 she mainly sang using her chest voice but it was always pushed to be higher, I suppose to fit in with the PWL style? 1994-98 she started to sing a lot lower and fuller. 1999-2007 she still sang lower but was a touch lighter to fit into a "pop" style, this transitioned into a more nasal tone for the higher, sustained notes. 2008-22 she tends to rely more on the nasal tone and less on the full chest voice, but is able to belt a lot longer and stronger than ever before.
 
Kylie's voice has evolved quite a lot since the beginning.

1987-1993 she mainly sang using her chest voice but it was always pushed to be higher, I suppose to fit in with the PWL style? 1994-98 she started to sing a lot lower and fuller. 1999-2007 she still sang lower but was a touch lighter to fit into a "pop" style, this transitioned into a more nasal tone for the higher, sustained notes. 2008-22 she tends to rely more on the nasal tone and less on the full chest voice, but is able to belt a lot longer and stronger than ever before.

Forgive my ignorance - but why might she rely so much on the nasal tone now? Is it something that changes as you get older? As someone who appreciates the other tones of her voice so much more I’ve often wondered why nasal is her go to/fall back these days.
 
Forgive my ignorance - but why might she rely so much on the nasal tone now? Is it something that changes as you get older? As someone who appreciates the other tones of her voice so much more I’ve often wondered why nasal is her go to/fall back these days.
Might be a few different reasons, my guesses are
1. recognizability - it sets her voice apart instantly and it's something many popstars try and do (most obvious example being Britney, she used to sound way differnet before she became a popstar)
2. stamina - that nasal way of singing is way easier on the vocal chords. Remember how coarse she sounded on Intimate & Live? Won't happen anymore if you go easier on the chest voice. I think I even remember some behind the scenes interview where she talks about her new vocal coach and how less can last you longer when it comes to singing (was around Fever I think).

I also think in the last few years her voice has gone even more nasal and lost some of it's warmness it had on Kiss Me Once and Kylie Christmas (in my opinion, those albums hit a sweet spot vocally). Might be down to the vocal production, technique or just natural causes. Who knows.
 
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She's likely more comfortable in the nasally tone these days but I think she is falling into some really bad habits where she sounds really shrill and unpleasant at times.
I wish she would use other aspects of her voice more, the bits here and there we do get still sound lovely so its not like she can't. Despite everything she's been through and the fact she's been singing for so long, her voice is still in good shape despite the few issues it has.

Her peak vocal moments were her Decon albums. She sounded sure of herself and had learned to access other parts of her voice and use them to their fullest extent. Obviously she won't be able to sound like that now though, voices age over time.
 
I also think in the last few years her voice has gone even more nasal and lost some of it's warmness it had on Kiss Me Once and Kylie Christmas (in my opinion, those albums hit a sweet spot vocally). Might be down to the vocal production, technique or just natural causes. Who knows.

I think Kiss Me Once (song) and Christmas Wrapping are really nasal. But I really like Kylie's nasal quality to her voice. I think it's the ultimate pop voice.

The moment I hear any female singer "vocalising" I want to leave the room so I'm glad Kylie steers away from that.
 
Forgive my ignorance - but why might she rely so much on the nasal tone now? Is it something that changes as you get older? As someone who appreciates the other tones of her voice so much more I’ve often wondered why nasal is her go to/fall back these days.

Definitely an age thing. But with many it can also be due to overuse or lack of training.

The thing is though Kylie "live" wasn't as strong until she started using that tone. If you look at her live performances from the early days none are up vocally with what she has done the last two decades.

- I'd say the strongest vocals she ever produced were for the acoustic versions from KM94, but the live version of 'The Crying Game' on FEVER2002 comes close and 'Confide in Me' in 2009.
 
I listen to Golden live and I don't really enjoy a lot of her vocals but then I listen to Infinite Disco and I think she sounded so much better. Sometimes it's just the material itself which is easier/harder to sing and can give you a good/bad vocal.
 
I listen to Golden live and I don't really enjoy a lot of her vocals but then I listen to Infinite Disco and I think she sounded so much better. Sometimes it's just the material itself which is easier/harder to sing and can give you a good/bad vocal.
Judging by the credits for Infinite Disco in the Disco: Guest List Edition booklet, I’m assuming there are a lot of the actual studio recorded vocals used or blended into the tracks as they specifically credit something along the lines of “Vocals” for the Parlophone tracks as being copyrighted to them.

The non-Parlophone tracks have no such credit, but then wouldn’t need to as they are already owned/copyrighted to Kylie / BMG.
 
I listen to Golden live and I don't really enjoy a lot of her vocals but then I listen to Infinite Disco and I think she sounded so much better. Sometimes it's just the material itself which is easier/harder to sing and can give you a good/bad vocal.

The audio on the DVD for the Golden tour doesn't do Kylie justice. Though she did have the flu for a few dates if I recall?
 
X2008 vocals are her best. I actually thought she sounded great on Showgirl Homecoming too.
I was always a bit baffled as to why they filmed the last 2 London dates for Les Folies rather than the first and second - not only did she look and sound pretty exhausted (understandably!) the venue wasn't as full as the earlier dates.
 

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