Alison Goldfrapp - The Love Intention

by Zena Grieg

published: 30 / 8 / 2023

Label: Skint Record Ltd
Format: CD

Colourful and theatrical synth-pop on debut solo album from Alison Goldfrapp, the frontwoman of successful electronic duo Goldfrapp

Review

Over two decades into her musical career, the frontwoman of successful electronic duo Goldfrapp, Mercury-prize nominated singer-songwriter Alison Goldfrapp, has now released her first solo album. ‘The Love Invention’ is a pot-pourri of Euro-disco and early 2000s synths mixed with 1990s rave. A sense of theatricality pervades the album; Goldfrapp is often accompanied in her live performances by scantily clad dancers in boas with horses’ heads. This is a record with dreams as a leitmotif, love the key theme: “relationships are with people and people of any kind, of any gender can be hugely attractive…that’s all that ever matters.” Songs to listen out for in this eleven-track collection include: the futuristic opener ‘NeverStop’ with its insinuating beat, highlighting Goldfrapp’s sultry vocals; the jocular title track taking aim at the wellness industry, a song Goldfrapp said was partly inspired by the experience of taking hormone replacement therapy for menopause; the euphoric ‘Digging Deeper Now’ with its ethereal chorus; the yearning ballad ‘In Electric Blue’; the soaring ‘Fever (This Is the Real Thing)’; the melancholy take on an illicit affair ‘Hotel (Suite 23)’; ‘Subterfuge’ with its hypnotic beat; the sensual, experimental ‘Gatto Gelato’; ‘So Hard So Hot’ with its anthemic dance track tirade about climate change; and the closer ‘SloFlo’ about facing up to whatever life throws at you. A synth-pop album embodying a colourful array of sounds and styles, ‘The Love Invention’ will be showcased by Goldfrapp in her upcoming appearance at Glastonbury.

Track Listing:-

1 NeverStop
2 Love Invention
3 Digging Deeper Now
4 In Electric Blue
5 The Beat Divine
6 Fever
7 Hotel (Suite 23)
8 Subterfuge
9 Gatto Gelato
10 So Hard So Hot
11 Sloflo