Supernature

当今全英最具异质魅力的，无疑非Goldfrapp莫属。2003年她们推出第二张专辑《Black Cherry》，当时从首张大作《Felt Mountain》的角度来看Goldfrapp变了，她们变得刺激、变得挑衅、变得性感、变得Deep Down& Dirty，唯独不变的是Goldfrapp每回出现总还是惊艳四座。并且会挑上她们歌曲收录的单位从众多弛放沙发与《天籁美声2》这类合辑变成任天堂掌上游戏 Game Boy Advance与可口可乐的电视广告。 难得的是如此艳且不俗、舞而不摇的美学全然不假外人之手( 还跨刀为Depeche Mode制作混音)，使得Goldfrapp更形聚焦的魅力直追Kylie Minogue，从此她们的地位自小众追随晋升为万众期待，2005年的新专辑《Supernature》大受瞩目，尽管风格上延续着对时下复古Electro世代的回应，大有挑战Debbie Harry性感定义的声腔带领着高压电流窜动的兴奋感与大片弦乐撑腰的优雅感如是多层次并存，无一不令Goldfrapp在时尚浮华的节拍氛围里显得格外唯美华丽且带劲。 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.]