Something Gold, Something New
Goldfrapp Sept. 12, Radio City Music Hall, 1260 6th Ave. (betw. 50th & 51st Sts.), 212-307-7171; 8, $39.50-$75.
With imagery of sunlight sparkling like diamonds, birds dancing on the moon and by the sea and a sweet road to somewhere, Seventh Tree, Goldfrapps fourth full-length record, emphasizes the British electronic duos dreamy, ethereal side. Youll find no rough edges on the newest Goldfrapp album: Its gentle, introspective lullabies, swirling synth-bathed softness and light echoing vocals signal a departure from the glam-inflected dance tracks of 2005s Supernature. But singer Alison Goldfrapp finds it difficult to describe how she and Will Gregory, the two keyboard-wielding masterminds behind Goldfrapp, arrived at the ambient electro-folk sound they now have.
Its hard to relay, because its such an intangible, unexplainable process, she explains via phone from England. You spend so much time listening to what youre doing when youre writing it, its very strange to have to explain it. Its hard to be more specific about a process when not even Will and I are quite sure what were doing.
Together, the two compose through a circuitous route of trial and error, opportune accidents and unforeseen dead ends, copious additions and subsequent subtractions.
Its like doing a big jigsaw puzzle. You get ideas, you try them out. Sometimes you have a great idea that doesnt fit in the context of what youre doing so maybe you have to leave it out, Goldfrapp says. Theres never a formula or a rule. It can happen and start any way Its just a case of me and Will sitting in a room and banging our heads together.
Their collaboration relies on an experiential approach, and they record every moment in the studio to ensure that they capture all promising musical possibilities.
We never write things and then go and record them. We write and record simultaneously, Goldfrapp says. As soon as we start playing we press Record because you just never know whats going to happen. Sometimes you forget something you just did, and you think Oh my god! Fuck! What was that? So you always have record on, and basically its just a case of jamming a lot and improvising.
Seventh Tree was conceived at the studio in Gregorys new home in the English countryside. Perhaps this explains why the record simultaneously incorporates a sweeping symphonic grandeur and the intimacy of a bedroom recording, conjuring cinematic visions of Goldfrapp wandering through fields and singing softly to the strumming of some troubadour located conveniently nearby. Goldfrapp and Gregory realized the lush sonic world they had imagined in the studio by doing much of the recording and production of the album themselves.
Most people have a million people producing their album for them, just deciding what the sound is going to be... With us its the other way aroundthere are only two of us in the band, Goldfrapp says. I dont just sing either, contrary to popular belief, I think. I get a bit peeved sometimes because I think people just think I sing and thats not the case. We write everything together.
Though the recording of Seventh Tree involved dozens of musicians on various guitars, electric bass, drums, keyboards, harp, violin, viola, cello and upright bass, as well as an eight-member choir, Goldfrapp says she didnt view pulling all these elements together as a massive undertaking.
It doesnt seem that huge, she says. We just fumble around in our house in the countryside and write tunes. Then we think Ooh, we could have some guitar in this. So we ring up someone we know and say, Do think you could come down this afternoon and try out some guitar on this tune weve got?
Since neither Gregory nor Goldfrapp plays multiple instruments, they often rely on others to test their compositional ideas, which can slow their progress.
That is why it takes some time to get things going, and there is this sort of process involved where you can spend weeks just farting around and not really coming up with anything, Goldfrapp says. And then something clicks, and you get into a flow, and you start feeling and understanding what it is youre doing.
Responding to the suggestion that the key to the process might just be a bit of magic, Goldfrapp readily agrees.
It is really I guess thats what makes us keeping doing it. Once you get a formula for something, you can almost give it to someone else. If there was a formula, it would be so dull I dont think wed do it.