Rejected by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, the minimalist dance-pop opus would become the defining song of Kylie\u2019s career. And, a quarter of a century later, it hasn\u2019t lost its capacity to burrow its way into your brain. La la la \u2026<\/p>\n
Around the release of Pet Shop Boys\u2019 1988 album Introspective, Neil Tennant coined the term \u201cimperial phase\u201d to describe an era when he felt the duo \u201cunderstood the essence of pop music and so we felt we could do what we liked\u201d. For his less flowery partner in pop excellence, Chris Lowe, this was typically followed \u201cby disappearing up your backside!\u201d.<\/p>\n
In 2010, critic Tom Ewing fleshed out Tennant\u2019s term by imposing three criteria<\/a>: \u201ccommand, permission, and self-definition\u201d. Command related to an artist\u2019s willingness and ability to push boundaries in a way that would reverberate through what followed. Permission, meanwhile, connected to the public and their goodwill towards an artist as they pushed things forward. Finally, self-definition, Ewing said, is the way the imperial phase defines the rest of the artist\u2019s career. All future work will be compared with, or mentioned alongside, the output from the imperial phase.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/408a097b041a104386f199b76edb0f224f548676\/0_466_4788_3832\/master\/4788.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=309a1ae0a85ca7e721f555f7469ff0b0\" "\\"\u2018You")
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