Music Reviews

Music Reviews

Music Reviews

Synthpop sounds influenced by the 80s

Goldfrapp is an English electronic music duo, formed in 1999 in London that consists of Alison Goldfrapp (vocals and synthesiser) and Will Gregory (synthesiser). The duo has consistently experiment with various sounds in a decade of their career. Their debut album Felt Mountain (2000) had an ambient sound. Goldfrapp’s second album Black Cherry (2003), incorporated glam rock and synthpop sounds. In their third album Supernature (2005), the duo ventured into dance music, enjoying international chart success while their fourth album Seventh Tree (2008) emphasised on ambient and down-tempo music.

In their fifth and latest album, Head First, the duo explores 1980s-influenced synthpop.
The music is vintage disco, the melody catchy and the lyrics fun and simple. It’s opening track Rocket borrows the bouncy synth sound from Van Halen’s Jump. Believer, a pastiche of the 80s sound is a bubbly track, which compliments the title track while Alive is reminiscent of ABBA’s music of the 1980s. The guitar features prominently here in addition to interesting sound effects. 

The title track, Head First, sounds more like a lost Olivia Newton-John song while the album’s title track starts off sounding like Mamma Mia slowed to a seductive crawl, before veering into synthesised euphoria. It is dreamy, foxy with sweeping synths. Hunt gives Alison a little more room for vocal expression. Shiny And Warm sounds like a track from their Black Cherry album with its seductive disco vibe.

I Wanna Life is the last of the standard pop songs in the set and is cut from the exact same cloth as Rocket, almost as if it’s the minor-key (in the verses) alternate take. The final track, Voicething, is the oddball of the album with an eerie slow motion collage of sounds.

Virgin Records, Rs 395

DH Newsletter Privacy Policy Get top news in your inbox daily
Comments (+)