Albums to watch

Head First

Goldfrapp

Head First

The electro-pop pioneer back with a fifth album of 80s-inspired songs in tandem with musical partner Will Gregory

ADM rating[?]

6.3

Label
Mute
UK Release date
23/03/2010
  1. 9.0 |   Rave Magazine

    Anyone can pay tribute to the low-fi disco sound ... but that signature Goldfrapp style – Alison’s icy yet weirdly expressive vocals, Will’s gorgeous arrangements – lift Head First well above the rest
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  2. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    If Jean Michel-Jarre had joined Eurythmics, they might have come up with something akin to this. A synthful pleasure
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  3. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory have never been so on top of their game
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  4. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Print edition only

  5. 8.0 |   Spin

    The singer's bandmate-producer Will Gregory creates a pitch-perfect neon-lit '80s wonderland
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  6. 7.0 |   musicOMH

    Skilful pop designed for adults
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  7. 7.0 |   Beats Per Minute

    If the album sounds revelatory at first, give it a few listens and you’ll realize it’s just because you’ve heard most of this stuff already in other places
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  8. 6.6 |   Pitchfork

    You might be the best-dressed person at 80s dance night, but if there's nothing particularly noteworthy about you otherwise, nobody's going to recognize you out of costume
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  9. 6.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    It’s a light, airy record that is ushering in the fresh breezes of spring not reinventing the wheel
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  10. 6.0 |   Blurt

    Between the singer's crystalline vocals and Gregory's well-orchestrated synths, Goldfrapp - the duo - is an ersatz Eurythmics for the not-so-new millennium
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  11. 6.0 |   The Scotsman

    Once you are done playing spot the reference, there is not much else to take away from what is ultimately just an exquisitely crafted pastiche
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  12. 6.0 |   Scotland on Sunday

    Overall, it's an immaculate assembly of influences, but there's not a truly killer song to be heard
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  13. 6.0 |   The Digital Fix

    Alison's voice is still striking, but this short collection is just too light on memorable tunes
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  14. 6.0 |   State

    The record comes across like an airbrushed seventies pin up calender, everything is beautiful, everything is in the right place but nothing is tangible, it’s Goldfrapp with the fangs removed
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  15. 6.0 |   NME

    Basically an upbeat electro-pop record with one foot in the ’80s, much like roughly 85 per cent of music made in the last two years
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  16. 6.0 |   The Independent

    Gives the impression that Goldfrapp are in the invidious position of playing catch-up to all the Gagas, LaRouxs and Little Boots upon whom they must surely have been a major influence
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  17. 6.0 |   Daily Telegraph

    Goldfrapp’s ear for detail remains spot-on. And Head First has some clever hooks. But the melodies seem to dissolve away like sherbet as you listen, leaving no lingering taste
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  18. 6.0 |   The Observer

    The sounds soar and squelch: as ever... But despite the plushness of the soundbed, much of Head First feels slight. It is a record dogged by a persistent cliche
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  19. 6.0 |   The Times

    On a sunny day with an unbroken stretch of road ahead of you and the desire to remember the gauzy, giggly languor of new love, this is the one you’ll reach for
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  20. 6.0 |   The List

    Goldfrapp’s exultant fifth album, sees the virtuosic UK deuce embrace 80s blockbusters and euphoric synth-bombast to buoyant – if not mindblowing – effect
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  21. 6.0 |   Uncut

    Print edition only

  22. 6.0 |   Q

    Print edition only

  23. 5.0 |   Under The Radar

    Perhaps they forgot to factor in the fine line between dated and retro, and as a result they've managed to trample all over it
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  24. 5.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Against big beats and chilly electronics, Alison Goldfrapp's frosty voice suggests prom night in the Antarctic
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  25. 5.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    They've moved on, changed their sound, and it's just okay... again. They’re not broadening their mystique, but stretching it to translucence
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  26. 4.0 |   PopMatters

    One cannot help but wonder if the duo is simply locked in an era in which they do not want to be
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