by P. Homme
Tales of Us, the new Goldfrapp album which took almost two years to put together is meant to be heard as a whole. It is a beautiful and haunting collection of music that transports one to a different time/place/space. Reminiscent of their first album “Felt Mountain” along with their 2008 release, “Seventh Tree,” Goldfrapp strips this new collection of their popular electronic sound and takes us on an emotional journey. Other standout tracks on this album include “Jo” and “Annabel” which they just released a breathtaking video to go along with. They also have a video for “Drew.” There was some confusion that “Drew” was going to be made available as a single for sale prior to the album launch but Goldfrapp confirmed that this track was not going to be released separa
tely as a single. I’m personally not sure if any of the tracks that have videos would make for good single releases but nonetheless both are beautiful tracks and the videos are highly recommended as well. The only song that has a beat reminiscent of Goldfrapp’s dancier electro efforts is, my personal favorite track on the album, “Thea.” If they plan on releasing an official single in the US with remixes and the works, this would be my pick.
In a recent interview I read with Alison Goldrapp, she discussed how each song is the story of mostly a female character except for “Alvar” and “Clay” which are tracks inspired by the male experience. “Clay” was inspired by a love letter, Alison read online somewhere, that was written by a soldier to another soldier and “Alvar” was inspired by european cinema, noir, Iceland and myths and legends of Philomena Lee.
Ultimately, this is the type of music you listen to at an art exhibit or possibly with the lights off at home. I promise you will feel transported. There are no songs to twerk to, not really any pop radio singles, though it would be absolutely refreshing to hear something like this on radio. Give this album a chance and you will not regret it.
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