Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 03/07/2006
It's something of a mystery why
Mute Records waited until early 2006 to release
Goldfrapp's third album, Supernature, in the U.S. After all, when it came out in the U.K. the previous summer, it made the duo into a bona fide chart success, to the point where the album's terrific lead single,
"Ooh La La" -- on which
Allison Goldfrapp channels
Marc Bolan's dippy-cool vocals and lyrics over a shuffling,
glam-tastic beat -- drew comparisons to former
S Club 7 star
Rachel Stevens' similarly
glam-inspired hit
"Some Girls." While
Goldfrapp might balk at being called (or compared to) a
pop act, it's undeniable that the duo has streamlined and simplified its sound since the baroque
Felt Mountain days. It's also undeniable that Supernature is easily
Goldfrapp's most accessible album. Coming across like the missing link between
Black Cherry's sexy, sharp-edged dancefloor experiments and
Felt Mountain's luxe soundscapes, Supernature sometimes combines the best elements from those two albums into something great, and at other times renders them into something surprisingly bland. Along with the aforementioned
"Ooh La La," the upbeat tracks find
Goldfrapp becoming the robo-
glam-
disco gods that
Black Cherry suggested they might: the starkly catchy
"Lovely 2 CU," the fabulously blasé
"Ride a White Horse," and
"Satin Chic," which could single-handedly make
honky tonk pianos fashionable again, all use the duo's inherently theatrical style to very catchy, immediate ends. Interestingly, though, the sweeping
ballads that used to be
Goldfrapp's forte are the most uneven tracks on Supernature. It's not that tracks like
"Time Out from the World" and
"Koko" aren't pretty and ethereal enough, but they're just not that distinctive. Likewise,
"Fly Me Away" is pleasant, but maybe a little too pleasant -- it almost sounds like it was commissioned for a travel commercial. However,
"Let It Take You" shows that
Goldfrapp can still craft gorgeous, weightless
ballads, and
"Number 1" nails the laid-back sexiness that many of the other slower songs attempt. It's surprisingly heartfelt, too -- is there a sweeter compliment than "you're my Saturday"? It would be unfair to say that Supernature's stripped-down
pop is a dumbed-down version of what
Goldfrapp has accomplished in the past, since it takes a certain kind of smarts to hone songs into instantly catchy essences like the album's best tracks. Yet, as delightfully stylish and immediate as Supernature is, it's still hard to escape the nagging feeling that
Goldfrapp could make its ethereal sensuality and
pop leanings into something even more compelling. [Supernature was released in the U.S. with the bonus track
"Beautiful," which originally appeared on the U.K. Number 1, All Music Guide
;)
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