Head First

Musical odyssey of the Goldfrapp ship

To the British project Goldfrapp music is a journey full of new discovered and studied territories. The given duo prefers to move from spot to spot constantly changing the sounding, which is demonstrated by their hit-loaded discography. It all started in 2000 when the musicians hit the stores with the debut album, Felt Mountain. This combination of folk motifs and soft electronic variations appeared fascinating for the audience and collected a great deal of positive reviews. Nonetheless, three years later, Goldfrapp went deep into dance music and, having added a good portion of rock spicy ingredients, released a perfect CD called Black Cherry. In 2005, the tandem was ready with Supernature, a record stylistically close to the predecessor. However, when the critics were about to qualify Goldfrapp as a purely dance-project, the band issued the fourth full-length work signaling a complete change of course. This time, the British decided to work a calmer kind of music adjusting their material to ambient standards. Considering all this, one may perpetually wonder what will be on their fifth effort under the title Head First.

Hypnos dancing

Head First is opened by the single Rocket characterizing the material of the whole album. Goldfrapp are back to the dance floors and have brought along an atmosphere of the disco from the eighties. This music often brings about associations with sci-fi movies, and this connection is made even clearer by Alison Goldfrapp’s singing. Her voice, as if uttered from a different reality or future, remains very natural and attractive. Then comes Believer, a piece of pop-music with a wide application of computerized effects and interesting lyrics. Alison does not hesitate to share her experiences and feelings, and you can hear from her words that she is happily in love now. The second half of Head First is executed in a lower tempo. The album is like a spacecraft that soared speedily on Rocket and now is unhurriedly browsing the musical universe of Goldfrapp. And these are the slower songs that capture your memory first of all. We are talking here about Hunt with unexpectedly gloomy lyrics and the closing track Voicething with pretty simple cycled drum patters which strengthen the hypnotic effect and sense of a dream journey.

Head First is a one vast pleasure

Always supporters of laconic expression of own ideas and thought, Goldfrapp proved it once again packing all the album within the tight limits of forty minutes. In fact, if there are no fillers on the CD, it’s an optimum duration. First and, as it usually happens to be, strong impression left by Head First is the sensation of immersion into a strange world or reality. There is only one dimension here, and this is music, because you do not need any other. No fillers at all. All the tracks are made and sequenced in such a manner that makes Head First one big composition. The transition from one song to another is so smooth that you might easily forget the number of the track you are listening to. Of course, after a number of listening, you memory will filter the most memorable moments and title of the favorite songs; but this first impression is a good sign. It means that music is the only thing that matters to you, not what they have been doing before, not the amount of the tracks on the CD or why this one is better than the previous one. Goldfrapp are wanderers in the world of music and do not stay long in one area. But no matter what genre they choose, their work is marked by a top quality. All the five albums they have demonstrate it, including the reviewed effort, Head First.