Goldfrapp

Goldfrapp is an electronic music band from London, which consists only of two members: Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory. Alison started her music career in early 90’s, when she worked with Orbital and trip-hop musician Tricky. In 1999 she met Will Gregory, who was recently creating a soundtrack to a movie. He suggested recording a joint demo, just to find out if they could work together. However, that demo record was never completed, but musicians enjoyed the recording session and decided to start a band. In August 1999 Goldfrapp signed a recording contract with London label Mute Records, and they began to create the debut album. The first record Felt Mountain was released in 2000. The band’s sound included a mix of musical styles; among them were folk and electronic music. The lyrics were written by Alison, and were something like abstract tales and stories, based upon movies, her childhood and feelings she experienced during Felt Mountain record. Goldfrapp’s debut album got positive reviews by music critics and was certified Gold, which meant that more than 100,000 copies were sold.

Second album Black Cherry was released in April 2003. This time Goldfrapp were focused on dance music and glam rock elements. As Alison said, they did not want to repeat what they had done before, but they were aimed to create something new and fresh. The first single from Black Cherry was Train. The idea to write this song came to Alison in Los Angeles, where the band was in Felt Mountain tour. The second single from Black Cherry titled Strict Machine reached number 1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart in the United States. During that period Alison decided to change her image: from a delicate Marlene Dietrich to a look of New Wave Diva. New appearance included false eyelashes, military uniforms and fishnet stockings.

Goldfrapp's third album Supernature was released in August of 2005. Will and Alison did not have the aim to create the dance music, but their songs were very popular in the US nightclubs. So duo from London decided to make an experiment: to record more dance-oriented album. And later it was understood that it was a great idea: Supernature debuted at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, more than 500,000 copies were sold all over the world, and the record was certified Platinum. In 2007 Goldfrapp won the Grammy Award in nomination Best Electronic/Dance Album.

The band’s fourth album titled Seventh Tree appeared in February 2008. The sound was changed: pop and electronic concepts were left behind. Goldfrapp were more in ambient and downtempo music. Also during that period of band’s creative activity the acoustic guitars were presented in their records, because the musicians wanted to get warm and delicate sounds. The album's first single A&E was well rated by the music critics, who characterized the song as a beautifully paced ballad. Alison’s image, which was changed during her career, had some new features in 2008. The singer decided to tone down her sexual image: “Music come first”. In September 2009 Goldfrapp announced that they started working on their fifth album. It was titled Head First and appeared in 2010.