Partly by accident but mostly by design, Goldfrapp have never sounded in tune with the times.
On occasion, the times have retuned to suit them: most notably with 2003’s Black Cherry, which helped start the electro revival.
But mostly, from downtempo debut Felt Mountain to the soporific folk of Seventh Tree, the duo have always been one remove from their surroundings.
Head First might be their strangest record yet. It starts in dated fashion: Rocket sounds as if it was launched in the 1980s by a ’70s rock group trying to keep up with the modern world.
And from here, it only gets cheesier: the title track nods to Abba, I Wanna Life is ’80s corn, and it’s no stretch to imagine Alive on the soundtrack of St Elmo’s Fire.
It’s successful on its own terms. The duo, it turns out, have quite a knack for this sort of thing. But quite why any 21st-century listener might want to hurl themselves back into the 1980s with such abandon is another matter.
Head First, indeed.
3/5
WILL FULFORD-JONES
