Pitchfork Forkcast: New Music: Goldfrapp: "A & E" [Stream]

New Music: Goldfrapp: "A & E" [Stream]

Alison Goldfrapp sounds like she's reinventing herself yet again on "A & E", the first single from her forthcoming Seventh Tree album with the group that shares her last name. From her 1990s roots as a trip-hop guest vocalist, Goldfrapp had gradually morphed by the time of 2005's Supernature into what Pitchfork's Nitsuh Abebe described as "something like a cross between Kylie Minogue and PJ Harvey, between Annie and Siouxsie Sioux, between Rachel Stevens and Beth Gibbons, the evil-twin model of the shimmery dancefloor princess-bot." Now, "A & E" dreamily blends acoustic strums, bubbling electronics, and the singer's sensuous, woozily echoing purr, resulting in something more akin to, oh, Beth Orton's mellow sister, or a folkier version of Goldfrapp's own Black Cherry-era self. This lovelorn song benefits from some relatively vivid lyrics about blue Saturdays and backless dresses, but it's likely to surprise people who know Goldfrapp best from Supernature's big hit, the glammy, electric guitar-driven "Oh La La". Given Goldfrapp's shape-shifting track record, that's probably the point.

Stream:> Goldfrapp: "A & E"
[from Seventh Tree; due 02/25/08 on Mute]