Goldfrapp - Head First

Think you’ve had enough of the eighties electropop revival? Well think again, because Goldfrapp are back with a sound that’s firmly rooted in uplifting, synth-driven eighties pop on fifth long-player Head First. In contrast to 2008’s Seventh Tree – a challenging, but ultimately disappointing ambient folk outing – Will Gregory and Alison Goldfrapp have taken another about-turn here and gone back to the disco. Much like its predecessor, however, Head First offers mixed results. 

Sonically speaking, this record has more in common with Black Cherry and Supernatural, but it’s a decidedly more upbeat affair. Lead single and album opener ‘Rocket’ is a delicious slice of shiny synth-driven electro with a killer hook of a chorus. But elsewhere, ‘Believer’ and ‘Alive’ highlight both where the album excels and where it falls down: both are catchy, undeniably upbeat and unmistakeably eighties; and yet both are instantly forgettable, lyrically simplistic numbers with more than a faint whiff of cheese about them. While it might be difficult (and perhaps unwise) to try and aim for too much depth with this brand of shiny-happy disco, if anyone should be up to the task, you would imagine it to be Goldfrapp. Sadly, though, this doesn’t prove to be the case, and Head First simply has more tracks that pass you by than reel you in. 

Which isn’t to say that all is lost, because when Goldfrapp get it right, they nail it. Along with the aforementioned opening track, ‘Hunt’ is a beauty, a dreamy electro gem, and 'Shiny and Warm' is a seductive stomper. Unfortunately, while the remaining six tracks all have the glossy sheen we’ve come to expect from a Goldfrapp production, they are largely forgettable and derivative affairs. 

Up to this point, Goldfrapp’s reinventions have been as surprising as they were welcome. Even Seventh Tree was at least challenging, and time may very well be kind to it. But it’s hard to imagine that being the case with Head First. Once a trendsetting pop duo, Goldfrapp now find themselves in the unfamiliar position of playing catch-up to a host of newer, younger and more exciting artists. For an act that has previously changed direction so skilfully, they now seem to have drifted dangerously close to the middle of the road.