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Alison Goldfrapp
The Love Invention
Skint/BMG
Listen Below
Felt Mountain, the avant-garde masterpiece unleashed by Will Gregory and Alison Goldfrapp in 2000, was instantly nonpareil upon arrival. It was understood that this British double act (christened with the last name of its vocalist) had future victories ahead of them, but the superlative career that followed their debut album bested all expectations. Six more full-length studio sets (and a singles retrospective) manifested; these albums stylistically ran the gamut: electroclash, dream pop, folk, classical and more.
Two decades on, the pair stand as one of the preeminent pop acts of their era. Silver Eye (2017), the art-pop dyad’s seventh effort, signaled an amicable pause on further collaborative action between the keyboardist arranger and the singer-songwriter-instrumentalist. For the time being.
Gregory has gone on to traditional composing entreaties in this interim, leaving Goldfrapp to plot a solo affair. But how does one accomplish this feat when their identity is (seemingly) tied to their work with someone else? Goldfrapp provides an answer with The Love Invention. Issued on the Skint imprint, a subsidiary of parent company BMG Records, Alison Goldfrapp’s debut is a vivid sonic trip that allows her to let her hair down.
Perusing the sleeve notes will reveal an intimate network of established and fresh talent laboring alongside Goldfrapp: Richard X, James Greenwood, Hannah Robinson, Toby Scott and Olivia Sebastianelli. The digital edition builds out on the record with one other new track (“Impossible”) and four remixes that bring Paul Woolford, Röyksopp and Claptone into her collaborative orbit as well, with exciting results. Still, it is Goldfrapp that grounds everything. She is the lead writer on each selection featured here and occupies the whole of the long player as a co-producer too.
Listen to the Album:
The study of love—in all its fascinating, heady forms—is extolled throughout The Love Invention. Goldfrapp applies her voice accordingly depending on the script she’s delivering. Whether it’s ethereal (“The Beat Divine”) or sensuous (“NeverStop”), Goldfrapp is as affecting as she’s ever been with her voice. But what about the music she’s singing over?
The Love Invention is a creamy, clubland dessert with pronounced notes of nu-disco (the title track), synth-pop (“In Electric Blue”), and other savory electronic flavors. That latter aspect gives Goldfrapp space to explore tempos both mild (“SloFlo”) and wild (“Gatto Gelato”). It’s true that much of these genre mediums aren’t unfamiliar to her or her loyalists.
Those who’ve followed her and Gregory’s joint material will notice just a bit of incidental overlap between The Love Invention with select portions of Black Cherry (2002) and Supernature (2005). However, those projects—considered the duo’s most accessible—were usually delivered with an arch, cerebral twist.
Here, Goldfrapp manages to go for an extroverted jubilance but maintains a mystique that one just can’t put their finger on. It makes for very good listening. And best of all? She sounds like she’s having a ball.
It’s safe to assume that Gregory and Goldfrapp will reteam someday. In the meantime, we’re fortunate to have Goldfrapp on her own, standing tall, as she actions an engaging, contemporary pop genre experience with The Love Invention.
Notable Tracks: “Gatto Gelato” | “In Electric Blue” | “NeverStop” “SloFlo”
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