Head First

Electro duo drop the weird-folk for classic 80s pop

2008’s Seventh Tree saw Goldfrapp trade mirror balls and glamour for the altogether less commercial world of dew-soaked meadows and Laura Ashley gowns. She was well ahead of the creative curve, as theatrical pop with a hint of folk is far more common these days. But critical acclaim didn’t translate into sales.

Head First sees a return to a more familiar world of glossy grown-up pop. Not of the glam-disco variety that catapulted Supernature into the mainstream, but of a style that’s indebted to the synth pop of the 80s. Now that Goldfrapp no longer sounds ahead, but behind, everyone else is initially a disappointment. Let’s not forget that Madonna was once nicknamed Oldfrapp for cribbing their style. But Head First is so fabulously up-tempo, such a skilfully-crafted homage to the synth-pop era that it doesn’t matter that La Roux and Little Boots have planted their flags here already. This is better.

Head First’s magic is that it has refashioned the chaff from the era (Sheena Easton’s 9 To 5, Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmas Time, Europe) and not just the wheat (Kraftwerk, Gary Numan) into such lush, sophisticated and danceable pop as Rocket, Believer, Alive and Skinny & Warm. If the last album put you off it’s time to believe again.

Album Review by Johnny Dee