Goldfrapp - 'Seventh Tree' (Mute) Released 25/02/08

Lovely. It’s a difficult word for any discerning music aficionado to swallow. In fact, the very word is enough to make you wretch until you’ve popped a blood vessel and the last dreg of yellow bile has hit the toilet pan… okay, maybe we’re taking it a bit far, but you get the picture. Worryingly though, Lovely is truly the most fitting word to describe Goldfrapp’s fourth album. After years of pioneering electro-pop (something her lady Madonna has been only too happy to shamelessly pilfer), a time which has seen the pair exude an effortless coolness, ‘Seventh Tree’ heralds a marked change in direction for Will Gregory and Alison Goldfrapp.

Relocated to a rural English retreat, the duo have made a pastoral, organic album that favours the flute and cello to the glitterball and stiletto. To some this would seem like an unforgivable step backwards, yet the album is so perfectly executed and, well, lovely that these concerns are at times immaterial. Part Kate Bush, part Wickerman soundtrack, the real beauty of ‘Seventh Tree’ is the luxurious versatility of Alison’s voice. Opener ‘Clowns’ typifies this perfectly. A peculiar yet stunning song, Alison’s sonorous vocals amidst minimal acoustic instrumentation sound so fragile it’s as if a brisk summer breeze would blow them away. Immerse yourself in them though and they takes you to somewhere beautiful.

‘Little Birds’ continues in this same vein, yet adds a sprinkle of bird noises (very twee but slighty tacky) and walls and walls of Alison’s ethereal utterances. Indeed, vocals aside, the album’s pace never meanders faster than a leisurely stroll on a summer’s day, something which can be frustrating at times, yet until the finale there’s a rich palette to their sound that quashes these concerns. ‘Road To Somewhere’ could soundtrack a Balearic sunset, the brass driven ‘Some People’ sounds epic and confident while conversely the quirky, flute spattered ‘Eat Yourself’ harks back to sounds of yesteryear. 

The album’s zenith undoubtedly comes in the shape of the striking ‘A&E’; from the song’s unassuming beginnings it transmogrifies into a radiant gem. However, this peak exposes an intrinsic weakness in the record. Unfortunately after the string-driven, sassy ‘Cologne Cerrone Houdini’, ‘Seventh Tree’ loses its impact and momentum. In fact, for all the loveliness of the closing moments, it’s almost as if the duo are almost running out of ideas.

A lush, worthwhile and gratifying excursion for Alison and Gregory, but surely a one-off.