Alison Goldfrapp, a former collaborator of Tricky and Orbital, and partner/session musician Will Gregory share a preference for textures and spooky atmospheres. Despite this, they never relinquish the fine art of writing seductive, sensuous songs, as their live debut demonstrated. The pair were intent upon probing the deeper recesses of sound and, with admirable ambition, Goldfrapp sustained their debut album's beautiful pacing throughout.
No slouch in the glamour department, 27-year-old Alison Goldfrapp launched straight into Lovely Head without even saying hello. Standing centre stage, clasping her microphone, she sounded like she was going under as some happy/sad wave engulfed her whole. It was as if she was barely aware of the crowd once she started the passionate wailing game: she seemed to serenade herself. Instead of aimless chat, we had the pleasure of marvelling at a voice that travelled from a delicate, childlike croon to a spectral wail without sounding kooky.
Gregory's arrangements lent the proceedings such a yearning and devotional air that you begrudged people whispering. It was to Goldfrapp's credit that their mix of dark keyboard sonics, strings and torch songs, plus warmth and melancholy pathos, eventually managed to conquer such short attention spans. Human felt enigmatically out of time and unspoilt, the whole thing coloured the perfect blue of cartoon skies. Whereas Utopia, with its lines "I'm wired to the world, that's how I know everything, I'm super brain, That's how they made me" pulls pure pop rushes out of its heart.
Some records make you want to beam at clouds, laugh at cows and frolic in the grass. Goldfrapp's Felt Mountain isn't one of them. Although devilishly good, parts of it do sound like someone hotwired Portishead's singer and took her on a joyride. It charms, if you're in the right mood, but can make you feel a little buttonholed. Live, however, they have an extra dimension. Set adrift from virtually anything else that is happening now, their brand of cinematic soul has its own piercing, haunting beauty.
