When I learned several months ago that Goldfrapp's forthcoming second album was to be titled Black Cherry,my first thought was how fitting of a title it would be. After fallingin love with the sweet, dark, succulent meoldies on their outstandingdebut, Felt Mountain, I anticipated hearing what the band hadbeen up to in the studio for the past two and a half years. It seemsthat in the interim, Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory have largelychanged their style. Straying from the moody, cinematic quality oftheir previous record, Black Cherry is a synth-driven,erotically-charged collection of songs combining Giorgio Moroder, Add Nto [X] and Olivia Newton-John circa 1979. Even Alison herself hasundergone a makeover: gone are the Heidi braids and muddy rubberboots—the eye-catching photo of her inside the sleeve reflects a crossbetween Elegant Gothic Lolita and Dorothy of Kansas."Train," the first single from the album, is bound for dancefloor fame.Alison is in full-on diva mode, and the thumping bassline and jaggedsynth rhythms are bound to make jaws drop from those who were expectingthe subtlety found on tracks like "Utopia" from Goldfrapp's debut. Thistrack is followed by the title cut, a meandering, bland mix ofuninspired string arrangements and monotone vocals. It is evidence ofone of the album's weak spot: the down-tempo songs, like this, "HairyTrees" and "Forever," are sappy and nearly indistinguishable. This timearound, Goldfrapp seem to be much more comfortable when they're overt.Their sexual themes lyrically reflect this as well, and have beenexpanded from Felt Mountainnearly to the point of being gratuitous. Hints of eroticism found onthe previous record have become morphed into naughtily playful lyricslike "put your dirty angel face / between my legs and knicker lace" onone of the strongest tracks, "Twist." Meanwhile, "Strict Machine"features a sexy beat throughout that resembles the cracking of a whip.
All in all, while Black Cherryis wholly entertaining, it does not bring to bear the inventiveness andemotional power of its predecessor. Additionally, Alison's voice doesnot show the range she's capable of (no yodeling this time around),although musically, the synths are very expertly and creatively handledby the duo. At its best, it's a sweet, dark, succulent pop record, butif you're searching for something mindblowing, best not to look here.
Read More
