Goldfrapp

Goldfrapp are eclectic duo Allison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory, who write and produce all their own music. Their sound is an uncompromising fusion of electronica and glam-rock-dance created with elements of funk, roxie glam and disco thrown in.

The duo hooked up in the late Nineties after a friend of Allison’s passed on her demo tapes to producer Gregory. Allison began exploring music as part of her Fine Art Painting Major at Middlesex University where she mixed sounds and visuals for her installation pieces. She then appeared on a number of albums including Orbital’s ‘Snivilisation’ before collaborating with Gregory to form Goldfrapp in 1999. Sharing a similar interest in both musical tastes and approaches the duo were soon producing their own unique brand of music with Goldfrapp on the vocals and within a few months they were signed by Mute.

Their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Felt Mountain’ was released in 2000 and nominated for a Mercury Music prize. The album drew influences from synth-pop, classical film scores and traditional folk music sound-scape resulting in comparisons to trip-hop bands like Portishead. Their follow up album, ‘Black Cherry’ was a real shift in musical direction; steering away from chilled out electronica and embracing glam-rock dance music. Released early 2003, the album was a top 20 hit and nominated for a Brit Award. Summer 2005 saw the release of the most successful album yet; ‘Supernature’, which went gold in its first week of sales reaching number 2 in the charts, before eventually going platinum. The album continued in a similar vein as ‘Black Cherry’, taking influences from Donna Summer and T-Rex and propelling them to universal success.