Goldfrapp
Head First

How you can criticize Alison Goldfrapp, only God knows (and okay, there's also that other guy playing with her, but who even remembers his name?). She has those big eyes, that overwhelming voice, and that diva-like overflowing ego, that you end up appreciating even the missteps, even those songs so bland that not even Kylie Minogue. And so, that enthusiastic thrill at the bottom of the heart of "Felt Mountain" (1999), the album that consecrated Goldfrapp, is definitively cataloged, throwing them immediately into the clutches of media power, sequins, and rhinestones.

There was this doe-eyed girl, a little eccentric, but certainly chaste, in her bucolic outfits, her blonde curls, and her extraordinary voice, capable of giving the world those nine songs that sealed the end of the twentieth century, creating an album that has never stopped melting even the most skeptical listener. Then, there she is again, completely transformed: sexy, carnivorous, sexual rather than sensual, but always elegant and chameleonic, still capable of beautiful and impactful songs ("Black Cherry", "Strict Machine", "Twist", "Koko", "Number 1"). Two albums, the following ones ("Black Cherry" from 2003 and "Supernature" from 2005) that bathe in electronics, '80s impulses, industrial screeches, cheerful tunes, orgasms, and dreamy immersions into the dark of the night. Alison rediscovers herself as a woman in the throes of hormones, destined to dominate men with a glance, without the need to show off meters of flesh: she has everyone in her power, even when she sings shallow tunes. 

This is what sets her apart from the others: class. Because even music lovers who are not familiar with the early Goldfrapp and stumble upon the new transformation become enchanted. Even when the songs dangerously verge on trash ("Lovely 2CU" or "Satin Chic", both from "Supernature", are an excellent example) and irritating, she always adds that thing that many artists lack: elegance. Because before being a singer, Alison Goldfrapp is, first and foremost, a fantastic performer, one able to act, put herself on the line, and adapt her voice to any sensation.

The latest change, the subsequent and intense "The Seventh Tree" (2008), proved it, capable of rejecting the electro wave to dive back into bucolic and ethereal sensations, also traveling on folk tracks. And now? Here it is, the first, true misstep of the English duo: "Head First", an album that seems like a collection of leftovers from previous albums. 

But let's go in order. They are just ditties that fail from the first listen. The electro is back, the nostalgic mood of other times is back, the sighs and howls at the moon, the swaying movements, the return of adolescence. All this returns, but in comparison, even a cute, but small album like "Supernature" seems like a huge record. 
What should a single earworm like the horrifying "Rocket" evoke? Amusing on the first listen, harmless on the second, and unbearable from the third onward. No, this is not Alison (and, in fact, when it happened on the radio, I couldn't fathom that it was branded Goldfrapp). No, this is not that girl with blue eyes and golden curls. The one that even if she wanted to "ride a white horse", that told you she wanted the fiercest sex and to be consumed and kissed, you always ended up believing her beautiful, innocent, and untouchable. No, this is not her. This looks like a record of Lady Gaga B-sides, and even there, we are fresh fresh.

"Alive", another single, is already nicer, but it slips away without evoking any effect, ending in oblivion. Even though I've listened to it several times, I can't remember the chorus or, at least, the rhythm. I only remember the music video, that yes truly beautiful: she, prophetic announcer of disco music, manages to disrupt a black mass, making the adepts dance. They have fun, you don't, because then the other tracks come in, each worse than the last: from "I Wanna Life" (Alexia, for a track like this, would kill her mother) to "Hunt", which is interesting but frigid. Nothing. Absolutely nothing happens.

And then. Here it is! The ray of light! The enlightenment on the road to Damascus. Here it is, the last track: "Voicething". Intro Laurie Anderson-style- "Big Science" era- and a great crescendo of voices. Here it is. Here is the tremor. No. It's just the beginning of a hypothetical great song that leads nowhere.

It's painful to say it, but "Head First" is truly useless. It doesn't even work as a frisbee, the cover art is so ugly.

Who would have expected it, from eyes like those?