Like cotton candy, this bit of electronic fluff is sweet to the taste but not very nourishing.
Alison Goldfrapp—who records under the moniker Goldfrapp with partner Will Gregory—has recorded with several of the biggest names in electronica and received accolades for her debut Felt Mountain. Goldfrapp's new self-titled album is just as pretty, but unfortunately the beauty is only skin deep. The 10 electro-pop songs are like cotton candy that deflates into little more than sweet air once you bite into it. Tastes good but not very satisfying. It does, however, fill a void I was heretofore unaware existed—that between the ultra-feminine trip-hop fairylands of bands like Broadcast and Alpha and the vapid wastelands of electroclash where you often feel a need for a cold shower after listening to the wet-dream lyrics.
Here, the lyrics are almost nonexistent—repetitive, often silly and short enough to be packed in erratic large type on only two CD-booklet pages. But band namesake Goldfrapp croons them deliciously in her evocatively youthful soprano. It's sweet treat after sweet treat, only interrupted by a few ballads that give you a brief rest but do nothing to ease up on the sugar.
The sparse and simple electronica backdrops are fairly formulaic—only a few bits like the synthesized-vocals-as-instrument trick on "Black Cherry" keep things fresh. With a bizarre Moulin Rouge/electroclash/werewolf cover art (in which she looks much like Bernadette Peters in The Jerk), it's all very theatrical—Goldfrapp's bewitching come-hither vocals and Xanadu-esque backing vocals—which does nothing to add weight to these little ditties. It's a shame that Goldfrapp and her partner Gregory don't show the talent for songwriting that she shows for singing.
Overall, it's an enjoyable bit of fluff. The blend of electro and pop here is just a bit too heavy on the pop—you can easily imagine Kylie Minogue rattling off a few of these tunes—and its airiness wears thin after only a few listens.
Goldfrapp Black Cherry
