Goldfrapp – Tales of Us (2013)

Goldfrapp - tales of usOn several occasions Goldfrapp left fans of old empty handed. For those of you who don’t know, Goldfrapp once was famed for their darkish, icy and cinematic breakthrough album, Felt Mountain that was released more than a decade ago. A few years after this success Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory decided to radically change their focus to glam electronics and combined this with a ‘Lady Gagaish’ look and feel on stage. Personally I was startled by the contents of the successor Black Cherry (2003) but also secretly accepted this album to be my guilty pleasure of the year. That year I also noticed that I wasn’t alone in this. Black Cherry was sold in very large numbers and picked up by Coca-Cola, Nintendo and Armani who used Goldfrapp’s tunes for commercial purposes. Obviously this popularity led to a follow up album in 2005. Supernature was meant to be an extension of the previous success and flourished on many hot and sweaty dance floors around the world. Next up was Seventh Tree (2008), an album that slightly reassured me because its rationale was of a more delicate and tranquil nature. Did this foreshadow a return to the early years of Goldfrapp? Alas it didn’t, for on their fifth album was neglectable. On Head First (2010) Goldfrapp reverted themselves to catchy dance music. When you try and sum this up in one sentence one can only conclude that Goldfrapp’s discography is not one you need to aline chronologically. This summer he latest scion from the duo was released on Mute Records and to be honest, I don’t know what to expect anymore. Yet after more than a decade, my devotion to Felt Mountain is still strongly present so I’m willing to give it another shot. Continue reading

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