In stepping back into the spotlight, Kylie Minogue faces a climate in which pop music sits conspicuously to the side, like an opened-but-unused condom on your nightstand. For the Chicklet-size legend, though, this isn't a problem. On X (Capitol Records, out now), Minogue returns with a grab-bag of innovative songs to win back even the most persnickety cynics.

With assistance from Bloodshy & Avant, Freemasons, and Calvin Harris, Minogue retools the rhythms and melodies that have made her a global idol to a generation of music fans raised on an instamatic diet of ringtones and reality-TV stars. On X, she delivers an opus diehards can place next to perennial standards like Fever, Light Years, and Impossible Princess. (Ed. Note: Impossible? Oh, Kylie!)

Outstanding tracks include "Speakerphone" and "In My Arms," two anthems laced with synthetic harpsichords and handled with precision production. Similarly stellar is "Sensitized," a song defined by its smart conflation of bagpipes and atmospheric electronica (you'll like it still, swear). But even more impressive is Minogue's ability to pilfer from fellow pop stars and reshape the spoils to suit her needs. While "All I See" puts her on a tight-rope between Janet Jackson and Ne-Yo, and "2 Hearts" has her channeling Goldfrapp, "Wow" is the best example of her ability to recast the dance genre. Frothy and decadent, "Wow" is everything that used to be fun about Madonna packed into a bouncy three-and-a-half minute ditty.

The album's momentum, though, is undercut by filler. Despite sounding lush and sparkling, "The One" and "No More Rain" never quite take off. Even more confusing is the inclusion of "Nu-Di-Ty," which is not so much innovative as it is meandering and ill-conceived, like a rejected demo from Britney's Blackout. A lack of cohesion proves to be the record's greatest drawback.

X isn't ruined by this, though. In fact, the record's good in spite of its inability to gel. But therein lies the problem. For the same woman who cast a spell with "Can't Get You Out of My Head," good is simply a cop-out.