album // Black Cherry
Goldfrapp's second album finds the duo moving from the chilled ethereal ambience of Felt Mountain into a sort of robotic retro moderism, and overall Black Cherry is a harder, more direct affair.
Black cherry was always the flavour of yoghurt that no-one else wanted from the fridge in our household; it's one of those 'love it or hate it' flavours, and I guess this analogy works well regarding this album - in many ways, the disparity between Felt Mountain and this (the apparently not so difficult second album) may not taste good to some who only bought their debut for its chilled vibe. Personally, I loved black cherry, and I love Black Cherry.
Black Cherry does contain several blissfully chilled and beautifully sensual songs ('Black Cherry', 'Deep Honey'), which have greater electronic depth and a wider array of textures than were available on their debut.
Alison Goldfrapp's voice has always possessed a certain sexuality which draws you in and surrounds you with half-whispered temptations, and this style is evidenced best on the penultimate track, 'Forever', which is painfully, achingly seductive, perfectly accompanied by Will Gregory's soft electonic textures.
Black Cherry is a thoroughly filthy affair, not quite as explicit as Peaches, say, but overall this album's gritty square wave-dominant synthetic sound is extreme and sexy. Then again the album's cover provides the clues to that sound, and as such it isn't a total surprise. However, its buzzing tones, thudding drums and pent-up sexual tensions mark this out as one of the best new underground electronic albums I've heard for some times. Aside from the sheer brilliance of the singles 'Train' and 'Strict Machine', other standout tracks include the opener, 'Crystalline Green', and the 'Nightclubbing'-paced 'Slippage'.
single // Strict Machine
Taken from their second album Black Cherry, 'Strict Machine' is an outstanding slice of squelchy electronic glam rockery, complete with heavy, plodding drums and intense synths, with Alison's vocals alternately sultry and seductive and desperate. Clear reference points could be T-Rex or pre-'Don't You Want Me' Human League, and, more up to the minute, Add N To X and Vic Twenty. Simply amazing, this track will no doubt have resounding and deserved critical and chart success.
Spread across two CDs and a DVD (a growing trend for Mute's more chart-friendly acts), CD1 offers the single mix of 'Strict Machine', plus a more typically Goldfrapp track, 'White Velvet Rope', featuring a children's choir, and an impressive live rendition of 'Hairy Trees' recorded at London's ULU. Goldfrapp clearly cut it across genres (and live too, as the version of 'Hairy Trees' proves), a fact neatly encapsulated on this tiny excerpt.
If you're lucky, you may still have time to get your hands
on a special edition slipcase for all three parts to the single (and a
free badge too) - go to Mute's
website for more details.