Goldfrapp’s tasty new Black Cherry

Goldfrapp Black Cherry

British trip-hop duo Goldfrapp has once again managed to surprise and delight listeners with Black Cherry, the follow up to their 2000 sleeper hit, Felt Mountain. The brainchild of former catholic schoolgirl Alison Goldfrapp and composer/producer Will Gregory, Goldfrapp is best known for the sensual fantasy world created in Felt Mountain, an effort written and recorded in a small cabin where the duo holed up for almost a year, losing contact with the world and bonding with nature. The result was a slow and steamy Portishead-like sound, with political lyrics that came alive during the more upbeat live shows, which often included an industrial disco version of Olivia Newton John’s ‘Physical.’

This time around Goldfrapp infused their signature sounds with disco and techno beats, a surprising, but welcome, departure from the trippy Felt Mountain. Black Cherry was written and recorded in a small studio apartment, described by the group as ‘all neon lights and darkened walls.’ The separation from nature caused Goldfrapp to depart from their made-up landscapes while landing them on bright dance floors and hallucinatory cityscapes, with the dark lyrics giving the techie sounds of ‘Black Cherry’ added depth.

From the schizophrenic first single, ‘Train,’ a Blondie-esque ode to the drugs and superficiality of Los Angeles’ nightlife, to more deliberate and pre-Black Cherry sounding ‘Deep Honey,’ this album has a surprise hidden behind every abstractly poetic piece. Particularly enchanting is the title track, a gorgeous requiem to lost love that sounds like no love song you’ve ever heard and the intensely erotic ‘Twist,’ with lyrics like ‘put your dirty angel face/ Between my legs/ And knicker lace.’

Black Cherry offers a more upbeat and marketable alternative to Felt Mountain. It is an exceptional array of emotions presented in a package of intensely stirring beats unlike any in contemporary pop.