"Word Is Out" is a song written by English musical duo Stock and Waterman for Australian singer Kylie Minogue's fourth studio album, Let's Get to It (1991). Produced by Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, it was released as the first single from Let's Get to It on 26 August 1991. The track aimed to replicate the swingbeat sound, with "New Jack City" by Guy serving as the main plot track. The artwork for the cover was photographed by Ellen Von Unwerth in 1991 for the British edition of Esquire.

Critical reception

Chris True from AllMusic chose the track as one of Let's Get to It's track picks. Larry Flick from Billboard commented, "Folks who think Kylie Minogue is too light for them may change their minds when they hear "Word Is Out". With a little help from remixer Tony King, she has eschewed the frothy hi-NRG tone of past hits in favor of an easy paced-house sound, replete with disco-flavored strings and percussion." On Michael Wilton's review of the second night of her Anti Tour in Sydney, Australia—where she performed an a cappella rendition of the song—for musicOMH, he stated that "Word is Out" is "wildly underrated." Writing Minogue's biography for her special on Australian music video program Rage, they stated: "While in the past, her material had always been high energy, 'Word Is Out' showcased a far more seductive side to Kylie that many had suspected was there." In another hand, Nick Griffiths from Select called it one of the "odd songs" in the album. Sophie Lawrence reviewed it for Smash Hits, writing, "Sounds like Madonna's "La Isla Bonita" a bit, doesn't it? She's just been brilliant ever since "Better The Devil You Know". You could listen to this 100 times and never get bored." In 2023, Robert Moran of Australian daily tabloid newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald ranked the song as Minogue's 168th best song (out of 183).

Commercial performance

The song was released as the first single in the summer of 1991 and was a top-20 hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number 16 and ending Minogue's run of 13 consecutive UK top-10 hits. In Australia, with the more laid back Summer Breeze Mix as the main mix, it peaked at number 10, becoming Minogue's 10th single to chart within the top 10. The Summer Breeze Mix received a UK release on a one-sided limited edition 12-inch vinyl single that has an engraved autograph on the B-side, making it highly collectable for fans.

Music video

Directed by James Lebon, it was filmed in London's famous Camden market and featured British television presenter Davina McCall as one of Minogue's dancers. An Australian version of the video later appeared on her 2002 (also the updated version in 2003) Greatest Hits DVD as one of the bonus features. The video was criticised by both Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, who felt the aesthetic allusions to street prostitution alienated Kylie's fanbase and contributed to the single's underwhelming chart performance.

Live performances

Minogue also did an a cappella "sing-along" rendition of the song as requested by fans on her Anti Tour's concert in Big Top at Luna Park, Sydney, Australia on 20 March 2012. musicOMH's Michael Wilton said the performance was "decent."

Track listings

Australian CD and cassette single Australian 12-inch single UK 7-inch and cassette single UK 12-inch single UK and Japanese CD single

Charts

Release history