Peacocks (Supernature - Goldfrapp)

Member Name: Seres

Product:	Supernature - Goldfrapp
Date:	15/04/08 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A solid, enjoyable album of pop surrealism

Disadvantages: Not as disco-y as you'd imagine

A strange beast are Goldfrapp, a duo of electronica-friendly musicians who feature a haunting, ambient vocalist and a hard synthesizer as their primary instrument, but refuse to be wilfully obtuse and obscure or only realise a new album once every decade or so. And they aren't named after a place in the south of England, neither - their name comes from vocalist Alison Goldfrapp. The band put together an album of offputting electronic oddness for their debut and spread out a little for their second album Black Cherry. This, their third album, sees them soar into the realm of glam-rock, replacing the low key white noises of first album Felt Mountain with powerful guitars and offbeat synthesizers, to mixed effect.

When the band try to emulate the effortless glamour of T.Rex, they are at their best, such as on glitzy album opener "Ooh La La" which sees the duo open their arms up to the electro-rock monster and try out a stadium-filling tune. Whilst they don't quite hit that pinnacle at any point on the album, this is the most accessible song they've made to date, and is filled with camp energy and pizzazz. Surprisingly, the album is not a Scissor Sisters-lite, as this is one of the rare songs where they actually head for that realm of camp dancefloor pop. Elsewhere on the album they tend to focus on buzzing slices of offbeat ambience, most notably with "Slide In", which walks a line of grandstanding ethereality. The music audibly crackles as Alison coos the in-no-way-subtle chorus "slide in/feel the future", and allows a glamorous decadence into the song. "Koko" does much the same thing, but with an added drum machine contributing small notes of percussion in the backdrop. Goldfrapp have taken on this album to the idea of packing their music with as much as they can, adding substance to the style they've always attempted to exude.

This continuing experimental side to the band slow them down on several occasions and make the album rather more patchy than it should be. For every chilled-out synth that "Number 1" has to offer, the band contrast it with the jarring "You Never Know". Whilst both songs operate around the same basic template of Alison's hauntingly light voice and grinding electro keyboards which audibly simmer, the resulting effect of both songs is drastically different. Whereas closer "Number 1" has a walking pace mentality and slow rhythm which rests languidly alongside Alison's voice, You Never Know seems forced and completely out of place here. It's an annoyance to listen to, although the chorus is a drastic improvement on the verses that precede. Meanwhile Number 1, perhaps the most low-key the band get on the album, walks away with the record. It's a sizzling electro pitter-patter which is seriously difficult to stop humming three days later.

There are other moments of painful awkwardness - "Satin Chic",
which seems to have been designed to emulate the arcade machines at the end of the pier, is so camp it's unlovable and irritating, and ultimately goes nowhere during the length of its three minute run. "Lovely 2 C U" is obviously meant as a piss-take, but that doesn't mean the song itself is exempt from criticism. Although the thundering bass notes give the song some power, the entire track feels more like a B-Side than something to actually put on the final CD. It feels shallow and unlikable, and after a few listens grows to become actively irritating. The band are much better when they stick to making music that feels like it has some sort of merit, and to their credit they seem to realise this, veering away from going overboard whenever they can. The record is really a lot more low-key than flashy - more akin to The Postal Service than The Scissor Sisters.

"Let It Take You" is a song which completely absorbs the listener, a slow meandering number which washes over with a simple elegance. Likewise, "Time Out From The World" has an epic sensibility, a calming track which oozes sex from every note. Alison Goldfrapp is an astounding vocalist, who completely sells the chorus of the song every time, rising with the music so that her high pitched singing note feels restrained and serene. It's a superb way to close off the album, and is in retrospect the obvious building block for the band to make their next album, Seventh Tree. The ethereal sounds of both songs spins off into a whole new direction for the band, one that pays off tremendously. A mix of both styles of music, "Fly Me Away" makes for the best transition between the otherworldly echoes of "Let It Take You" and the dancefloor stamp of "Slide In", providing a solid pop song which has an instant hook. Possibly the most enjoyable song of the album, though, is "Ride A White Horse", an intense blip of a backing track which gives Alison her chance to really stamp herself over a song. She goes into full-on diva mode for the song, like a female Marc Bolan. "Take me dancing/at the disco/when you buy your/Winnebago" she slurs enchantingly, in the single best pop moment of the album. Here, the band capture their sound perfectly, and give us a song which matches up to the expectations of anyone who sees the album cover (she's a game girl, isn't she, is that Alison Goldfrapp).

Although occasionally slipping into forgettable nonsense and camp luxuries, Supernature is the most consistent and solid album the duo have produced out of their first three records. Just don't go buying it in the expectation that it's a disco record.

Summary: Music with lots of lovely synth.