Ah, Goldfrapp. When will the out-of-the-loop masses realize that it's well
past time to bow down at the thigh-high booted foot of Alison Goldfrapp,
frontwoman and namesake for Goldfrapp? SUPERNATURE, the hotly anticipated
follow-up to 2003's breakthrough BLACK CHERRY, is an impressive
continuation of what the latter disc started. For the uninformed, BLACK
CHERRY scored smashes not only on charts and in clubs, but in advertising,
with single STRICT MACHINE accompanying ads for a certain gaming console. A
staple of numerous chill-out compilations, Goldfrapp seem set to steer away
from downbeat numbers in favor of perky, 80's infused, funked-up beats. Only
the songs TIME OUT FROM THE WORLD, U NEVER KNOW, (itself still funky and
upbeat) and the jazz-inflected, bass-heavy LET IT TAKE U come close to
cozying up to the chill genre.
If songs like SATIN CHIC, a grooving, almost
sunny track, NUMBER 1, a stunning profession of love served up over
electronic burbles and bouncy bass, and thundering first single OOH LA LA,
all pulsing bleats and murderously catchy hooks herald a new, more upbeat
direction for Goldfrapp, let me just say i will be in for the long haul. The
thing about Goldfrapp is that they are so insanely talented with a golden
ear for melodies and hooks so catchy that they'll stick with you like oatmeal
for breakfast, plus a gorgeous, charismatic frontwoman in Alison Goldfrapp,
it's very nearly a sin that they aren't more well-known in America. I think
it's a true pleasure when an artist takes a genre like dance/electronica, a
mostly chilly and impersonal genre, and injects it with warmth, heart and
depth. Similarly criminally ignored band the Cardigans scored in 1998's GRAN
TURISMO, and Madonna herself had a career defining record with 1998's RAY OF
LIGHT. With the modest sucess of Goldfrapp's BLACK CHERRY, and when
they score domestic distribution for SUPERNATURE, maybe the groundwork
has been laid for a truly breakthrough disc.
Until then, seek out an import of SUPERNATURE and let its beauty, warm,
buttery vocals and entrancing grooves embrace you.
