Goldfrapp ‘Supernature’ (Mute)

Way back in 2000 when Goldfrapp released their debut album ‘Felt Mountain’, they were but one of many female-fronted acts plotting a vague line between dreamy electronica and trip-hop. Occasionally sweet, often bland, they didn’t achieve the same kind of success as the likes of Morcheeba or Moloko. Then in 2003 came ‘Black Cherry’, an album of pulsating electro rhythms and rampant sex that became the dominant record of the burgeoning electro revival.

At the centre of this chameleon transformation was eponymous singer, Alison Goldfrapp. Once the ethereal voice on wistful Orbital records, she is now one of pop’s premier sex bombs and much of her recent media coverage has drawn comparisons to Madonna. Indeed if renowned truth-sayer Popbitch is to be believed, unfriendly execs at her label have begun referring to Madonna as Oldfrapp. Whatever about the other half of Goldfrapp, Will Gregory’s complex yet direct production, it was Alison’s raunchy and provocative voice that brought oomph to songs like ‘Train’ and ‘Strict Machine’. Live she is a flamboyant presence in feathers and fishnets, a true pop star who abandons any mores once she steps on stage as she slides suggestively down the microphone stand or rubs a wailing theramin against her crotch.

Now with the release of their third album, ‘Supernature’, Goldfrapp are poised for superstardom. Wisely they’ve retained the winning formula of ‘Black Cherry’ – upbeat electro numbers mixed with seductive slower songs. Yet somewhere along the way, they seem to have lost their mojo. Gregory’s beats don’t seem to have that erotic thump and the bass lines are no longer get-down-on-the-dancefloor dirty. Lead single ‘Ooh La La’ is ‘Train’ reworked, though this time with more than a nod to Dr & the Medics’ Jesus-loving ‘Spirit in the Sky’. ‘Lovely 2 CU’ and ‘Number 1’ are tepid pop songs, and though ‘Ride a White Horse’ comes closest to replicating anything on ‘Black Cherry’, it been redone by so many different producers and engineers, it has lost any sense of original identity. Then there’s Alison herself. The filthy yelps and blatant S&M overtones of tracks like ‘Strict Machine’ or ‘Twist’ have been replaced by a coy ambiguity and even a line like “slide in feel the future” (‘Slide’) seems deliberately asexual. Somehow the thrill is gone.

Rather than seek out new ground or even further exploit the sexually charged ‘Black Cherry’ sound, ‘Supernature’ sees Goldfrapp attempt to marry the earthy tones of ‘Felt Mountain’ with the previous records’ red-hot pulse. But they end up diluting the best aspects of both and the record seems like a bid to appeal to record labels, radio stations and advertisers. Watching Alison’s on-stage antics it once seemed Goldfrapp were out only to please themselves. ‘Supernature’ could end up pleasing no one.

words: Colm Larkin