Seventh Tree

Product Information

If a well-known pop artist alters their style-- especially if it deviates from a sound that made them a commercial success-- there's often this urge to label the musician as bored and impulsive, chasing new trends or jumping off bandwagons as if holding off stagnancy is their only motivation to test their creativity. Barney Hoskyns of The Observer commented that the duo "have made an album as hummably lovely as it is knowingly referencing of a certain tradition of neo-psychedelic English whimsy. The acoustic guitar is sensational and Allison's voice (espcially her high-pitched cooing at the end) is euphoric, like I just went out on a date with a girl I never met before absorbing this song. This is not Goldfrapp Unplugged, although acoustic guitars and strings waft in and out of the album effortlessly - if anything, Seventh Tree's electro hippie-chic is the duo's most polished and luxe work yet. Avoiding the glammy dance-pop of the duo's previous two albums is a bit of a risk, since Goldfrapp could probably make endless variations on Ooh La La and still have plenty of fans.

Their interests were always too diverse and their musical talents too accomplished to become shackled down churning out electro-disco dance numbers - despite what their record company might prefer. I passed over it after the first few listens but as the immediacy of the more accessible songs begins to wane, I find myself listening more and more to this one and the other inbetween songs such as `Monster Love' and `Cologne Cerrone Houdini'.At its best-- the desolation of "Cologne Cerrone Houdini" and "Some People", which inject the ambience with a much-needed eeriness-- this stuff's fairly soothing; at its worst it evokes that old "Mystery Science Theater 3000" bit about the two-note chords of New Age music: "Put your finger down here.

Recorded with longtime collaborator Will Gregory out in rural Somerset, Seventh Tree feels like an attempt to fuse the pagan folk of cult English horror classic The Wicker Man to a lush backdrop of woozy electronics and a restrained orchestral sweep reminiscent of '70s-era Serge Gainsbourg. But with all the excitement and decadence drained out of the music and the voice, the trite themes stand out a bit more clearly: you can be happy if you give money to people who promise to make your life better ("Happiness"); birds have wings and are free ("Little Bird"). This seems a bit much, given the legions of artists that have made Wicker Man-influenced psychedelic folk albums in recent years: walk into any new-folk club and you risk being deafened by the slap of twigs on Britt Ekland's bum. Over a perfectly balanced soundtrack of strings and guitars Alison mumbles something about large balloons being played with by clowns. Kate Bush and Liz Fraser vocals, Prefab Sprout, Air and Cocteau Twins electronic wizardry but the great, truly great, thing about Goldfrapp is that they are more than just the sum of their influences.A special edition of Seventh Tree was released on 3 November 2008, featuring new album artwork, photographs and a DVD.

Set yourself free, remove the shackles that are holding you down and you can fly like a `Little Bird'. The year of 1977 was tough for Gryphon, a medievally inclined prog rock band heavy on the crumhorn and the hey-nonny-no. And so it's come as no surprise that after having done such with their last album - the amazing Moroder-meets-Weimar glittering sauce-fest that was 2005's Supernature - that Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory have opted for a more relaxed and even - crikey! Bassist Jon Davie adopted the nom de punk John Thomas; whatever you think of their opportunism, you can't fault the dedication of a man so keen to keep his career alive he was willing to name himself after a euphemism for the penis. Seventh Tree unveils an Alison Goldfrapp quite different to the one we saw on her career highpoint to date, 2005's Supernature .The album then slows down with a set of sadder, slower pieces that talk about loneliness and despair about broken relationships. Quite what the lyrics are driving at remains a mystery - they could just be a load of old bollerghs - but notice of a musical volte-face is duly served.

It's just too bad most listeners won't be able to say the same about their own reactions to this new one. postcards containing unseen photos included alternate shot of the owlman, and Allison standing in a cute polka dot uniform alongside a horse behind a tree. Allison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory slow down the beats and break out the acoustic guitars on a set of songs that suggest chilling out in a field during a hazy, watercolor summer; this is music for after the party, not after-parties. Beautiful melodies and electronic sounds and over this arrangement Alison pours out a string of life-affirming lyrics promoting actions that you can take that can result in a nirvana of sorts. Musicalement, l'alliance entre les lignes instrumentales et la voix si pure de la chanteuse nous fait voyager.

It's also a move that few who came in during the last album would've imagined, but in the grand scheme of all things Goldfrapp, it makes perfect sense.