Stock, Aitken, and Waterman composed and produced all the tracks on "Kylie" except "The Loco-Motion" written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Critics described "Kylie" as a bubblegum pop and dance-pop album. Sal Cinquemani of "Slant Magazine" described it as a collection of house tracks blended with "hi-NRG beats, Italo-disco synths and Motown melodies." Joe Sweeney of "PopMatters" noted the musical similarities to other albums produced by PWL, with the lyrics about romantic relationships and positive mentality. He commented that such themes would later infuse Minogue's post-millennial work. Matthew Lindsay of "Classic Pop", on the other hand, pointed out the main themes about heartbreak, betrayal and frustration. In a 2019 interview, Minogue said that she "probably didn't realize at the time" about the dark tone in the lyrics—in the case of "I Should Be So Lucky", she stated "We all sing like it's really happy, but it's not. She "wishes" she was lucky in love."