Goldfrapp

Just two albums after their dazzlingly cinematic debut, Felt Mountain, Goldfrapp's transformation from art-pop disciples of John Barry into this generation's Eurythmics is complete. Supernature is 11 tracks of non-stop, glammed-out, trashy, sexy, sticky sweet synth-pop, and if Goldfrapp make it sound easy, that's probably because for them, it is. Will Gregory and Alison Goldfrapp are both extremely talented musicians, and it's hard to shake the feeling, listening to such ridiculously catchy confections as "Fly Me Away" and "Ride a White Horse," that they're slumming it.

Then again, maybe that's the point. On Supernature, even more than on their last album, the superbly sleazy Black Cherry, Goldfrapp have an uncanny knack for picking all the prettiest bits out of the slagheap of '80s synth-pop and its turn-of-the-21st-century counterpart, electroclash. And they're smart enough to dig even deeper, mining T. Rex glam to give leadoff track "Ooh La La" its swagger and evoking the camp of classic British music hall (by way of Queen) on "Satic Chic." They even cop a few of Prince's bump-n-grind synthesizers on the very risque "Slide In."

Through it all, Alison Goldfrapp milks her breathy, sex-kitten falsetto for all its worth -- you'd hardly guess at the range she showed on Felt Mountain, but again, maybe that's the point. The lyrics, too, seem tossed off: "Take me dancing, at the disco/Where you buy your Winnebago," Alison sings nonsensically at the beginning of "Ride a White Horse," but with such come-hither intensity that you're inclined to give her what she wants. Anybody know a good dance club that sells RVs?

There are traces of the Goldfrapp of old on the ballads, especially on the expansive "Time Out From the World," but make no mistake: This band is no longer in the business of making music for sophisticates. Unless those sophisticates are willing to slum it for awhile. -- Andy Hermann

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 EP.] ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide