GOLDFRAPP51“ I THINK MOST
BANDS ARE TOO
S C A R E D T O
TRY SOMETHING
DIFFERENT...”
describing the record as a hybrid
of anthropomorphism, mysticism
and dreams. “They’ve been there
on all the albums but it’s much
more focused on this record.”
Equally fascinated, Will says:
“Before humans stopped hunting,
they depended on the sun and the
lunar cycles. Yet we still know very
little about it.”
Sonically it’s a record that
constantly mutates, each song
building towards a crescendo
of some sort. But it’s Become The
One that really focuses on change
and questions who human beings
might want to be. Alison was
moved to write the track after
seeing the 2015 documentary,
My Transgender Summer Camp.
“Become the one/ You know you
are,” she sings over and over
again, her treated vocals
morphing from a dark robotic
growl to the sweet purity of her
real singing voice.
“It’s celebratory, about looking
inside yourself and having the
confidence to change – not
changing, becoming the thing that
you want to be. We all have dual
personalities,” she says.ALL THAT GLITTERS
Having instigated so many
transformations themselves, it begs
the question – is Goldfrapp the
band they always wanted it to be?
“We’ve tried wanting to be many
things,” responds Will with a hint
of irony. “We have written reams
about what type of album we
wanted to create, like ‘surely we
could go here and do that’. But it
has never worked and we end up
doing the opposite. A Goldfrapp
record just seems to be something
we find as we go along.”Less certain Alison adds: “I don’t
think we ever really know what
we’re doing. But it has to feel
genuine. We often start out with
a plan and quite quickly that plan
goes out of the window.
“Plans are good but it’s good to
be prepared to throw them away
as well.”
For all the incarnations,
Goldfrapp’s music can just as
easily be condensed into two
more basic camps – upbeat
and downbeat. Will concedes:
“The last one we went off on a
very pastoral vibe, no drums,
the groove aspect was in the
background. It was mood, melody
and harmony exploring textures.
But with this one we thought, ‘no,
let’s put the rhythm at the forefront
and explore that’. We were long
overdue to shake ourselves
around a bit.”A WHOLE NEW STAGE
The West End stage is calling Goldfrapp. Away from touring, the
pair harbour dreams of producing their own theatrical production;
a bit more ‘jazz-hands’ even. “We have talked about a musical
actually,” confesses Will. “We are both excited by theatre and love
music in film. I think we both see everything we do almost as a
little drama of some kind, even if it’s never expressed overtly. So
it feels like something we could do at some point, I’d rather a play
than a musical maybe... certainly something for the future.”
Where the duo may struggle is finding the right team to help
translate their ideas onto the stage. With some reticence, Will
explains: “It would mean allowing a lot of other people into
the equation and that means you are having to voice things in
different ways; it’s a big collaboration with a lot of people.”
Perhaps Silver Eye, with its more collaborative genesis, will
encourage the duo to give theatre a shot sooner rather than later.
Over the years, Goldfrapp have lived out their theatrical fantasies
in lavish pop videos. “That is part of the problem of us doing a
‘new’ show,” he concedes. “You can already see it with our back
catalogue. But it would be lovely to do it, I think if somebody
asked us it would be very hard to turn down.”
Classic Pop is already making pre-theatre dinner reservations
in anticipation.Silver Eye is the
follow-up to
Goldfrapp’s 2013
album Tales Of UsAnnemarieke van DrimmelenCP30.goldfrapp.print.indd 51 07/06/2017 16:27