5353XXXXIs Silver Eye craving a hit? “Radio
is a fickle mistress,” murmurs Will,
with the trepidation of a jilted
lover. “If you court her you will
be disappointed. Anything where
you are expecting a response is
dangerous territory and it can lead
you down the wrong path. You can
never second-guess these things,
you can only please yourself. It’s
about being satisfied that you have
explored everything to its fullest
extent and not left anything half
cocked. Some of the things I love
the most are obscure and have
probably never seen the radio
and that’s OK. You can’t expect
everything to appeal to everyone.”IT TAKES TWO
In marketing terms, the focus has
switched from radio to streaming.
Goldfrapp are unlikely to make
it onto Spotify’s most-played list,
but they do see the positives in the
new medium. “You have to say
more music is getting out there
to more people in more varied
way,” says the man behind the
keyboards. “It makes people
search it out rather than being
spoon-fed. It’s a positive thing even
if it’s hard to handle in terms that
people seem to set themselves up
as streamers rather than supporting
the music financially.”
Elegant new tracks like Faux
Suede Drifter allow Will to
parade his collection of analogue
synthesizers. Alison has “to rein
him in” from time to time. “I’m
lucky to have collected some
lovely analogue things,” admits
Will, who also makes music withthe Moog Ensemble. “My family
probably need to sit me down
and say, ‘we need a holiday
not another synth’. But what the
synthesizer can do or fails to do is
rather beautiful.”
Perhaps the secret to Goldfrapp’s
longevity is down to the dynamic
of a duo. From Pet Shop Boys
to Daft Punk, over the decades
some of pop’s most enduring acts
have been pairs. “I think you’re
right. We’ve both been in bands,
sometimes with 10 people and
the amount of emotional knottingGOLDFRAPPGoldfrapp will be making
a number of festival
appearances this summer
including Glastonbury,
Bluedot and Latitudealready played a handful of
UK shows, including the
BBC 6 Music Festival in Glasgow
ahead of a big performance at
Glastonbury in June. “We started
rehearsing in Will’s garage,”
explains Alison. “His garage is
a real garage, it’s pretty low-key –
lot of tins of Ronseal.” Alison has
since escaped the whiff of turps,
but Will hasn’t joined her, “this is
where I let the band sail off into
the sunset.”
For Alison, touring seems a
real joy and the new material
fits seamlessly in with her live
favourites. “It’s a fun record to play
and the reaction has been great,”
she says eagerly.
“I still really enjoy playing Strict
Machine, Ooh La La and Black
Cherry. I never get bored of
playing those songs live.”
Current enthusiasm suggests
there’s plenty more changes to
come from Goldfrapp. Surely
retirement remains a long way off?
The singer teases: “I say to myself
I’m going to stop soon and do
something else. I can see myself
on stage in 10 years, but definitely
not 20. At the same time, Iggy Pop
does it, so why not me?”
Why not indeed.Silver Eye is out now on
Mute Records“ I DON’T THINK WE
EVER REALLY KNOW
WHAT WE’RE DOING”
and unwinding that has to go
on is difficult. When four people
are being interviewed on TV I
can see, by how they are sitting
together, exactly what is going on.
It’s painful to observe but you can
predict who is going to fall out
with who. It’s harder to work out
the internal dynamics of a creative
union when there are more than
two people involved. But if there’s
two of you there’s only one other
person to deal with.”
Now comes the job of
touring Silver Eye. Goldfrapp haveCP30.goldfrapp.print.indd 53 07/06/2017 16:27