GOLDFRAPP BLACK CHERRY ALBUM MUTE, PLAYGROUND RELEASE: APRIL 28, 2003 REVIEW: MAY 15, 2003

Goldfrapp's debut album "Felt Mountain" didn't do very much for me at first. I recall giving it a six when it was released in the summer of 2000. That summer, I was, on the other hand, mainly preoccupied with drinking and watching Japanese mondo cyborgo classics like "Tetsuo" in the tiny basement room I rented, and didn't have much time for somnambulistic soundscapes. Later, I realized that the album's baroque richness held enough enigmatic sensuality to illuminate many late nighs, not to mention to levitate it far above second generation trip hop outfits; the kind of bands some people might feel tempted to lump Goldfrapp in with.
But now it's 2003, and again Goldfrapp initially disappoint me. The single "Train" first felt like a clear case of jumping the electroclash bandwagon. And the album follows suit, with Goldfrapp largely eschewing big string arrangements for a higher tempo and electronics that are cold and stripped to the metallic core. But the lyrics, sometimes nonsensical, sometimes surreal in a highly sexually charged manner, work brilliantly in contrasting the high pitched electronic shrieks. And unlike much recent electronic pop, Goldfrapp look more forward than backward, the pulsating, hissing arrangements inhabiting a sphere of their own. They also avoid the Teutonic sternness of the bulk of their new electronic wave contemporaries, in favour of a hedonistic playfulness that is way more appealing.
The end result is, thankfully, closer to Giorgio Moroder than Human League. And that's much needed for the moment.

KRISTOFFER NOHEDEN