Seventh Tree (Deluxe CD/DVD)

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Seventh Tree unveils an Alison Goldfrapp quite different to the one we saw on her career highpoint to date, 2005's Supernature. Whereas that album was grandiose, glammy, and almost aggressive in its brash, thrusting sexuality, Goldfrapp's fourth album is no less sensual, but rather more subtle in its approach. Recorded with longtime collaborator Will Gregory out in rural Somerset, Seventh Tree feels like an attempt to fuse the pagan folk of cult English horror classic The Wicker Man to a lush backdrop of woozy electronics and a restrained orchestral sweep reminiscent of '70s-era Serge Gainsbourg. In practise, this means much of Seventh Tree goes where earlier Gainsbourg disciples such as Air have gone before: chilled-out, soporific electronica with a light organic edge. Luckily, Goldfrapp remains a compelling enough figure to keep matters on the right side o! f ethereal: the gorgeous "Clowns" imagines the Cocteau Twins' Liz Fraser guesting on some long-forgotten Nick Drake out-take, rustic folk with an all-but-indecipherable vocal and an undercurrent of desolation, while "A&E" shows Goldfrapp's pop urge has not deserted her, uplifting electronica with a warm, bucolic twist. --Louis Pattison

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Customer reviews

review by: Jack Oléy date: 2008-03-27 rating:
Golden
This album is exquisite, beautiful, wonderful. A truly lovely piece of work. It sounds like Goldfrapp are developing as artistes and they're playing stuff they're much more into. You can't really compare it to their other albums; Black Cherry is a sublime opus that stands on its own. I can't say how good this record is; it's just great! If you like Goldfrapp, you might like Broken Social Scene.

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review by: ea_solinas date: 2008-03-25 rating:
Feeling like I needed you
I confess, I'm still getting used to the glitzy, glammy sound Goldfrapp had in its last album. Now it has gone to the other extreme -- floaty, instrumental pop.

Fortunately it doesn't take long to get used to this new style, because it fits Goldfrapp like a fine silk glove.The dancy electrobeats are translated into shimmering downtempo, the hard edges softened into acoustics -- it's a floaty, dreamlike, bittersweetly beautiful little album, full of swirlingly addictive instrumentation and wistful vocals.

It opens with the mellow rippling guitar, overlaid with an ethereal fog of sorrowful violins, a touch of synth, clips of birds singing happily. "Only clowns would play with dull balloons," Alison Goldfrapp sings in a girlish slur. It's pretty hard to hear what's she singing ("Roasting, roasting, roast indeed, mahogany"), but the exquisite quality of the music makes up for it.

This is where you know it's all going to work.

And she doesn't disappoint in the songs after, startling with the quivering synth and satiny vocals of "Little Bird" ("We dance by the sea/the land of blue and gold/is where we were free/do you lie, lie lie?") and catchy, sunny "Happiness." And it sets the tone for some of the songs that follow -- exquisitely sensuous pop melodies, odd chorale ballads, dramatic electronica, and the sprightly dancy chamberpop of "Caravan Girl."

The highlight has to be "A&E," a warm fragile little melody spun that ripples with piano and soft keyboard. And as the melody picks up into a swirling instrumental speckled with electronic blips, the tone turns a bit darker. "I was trying to phone you when I'm crawling out the door.... I was feeling lonely, feeling blue/Feeling like I needed you/Like I've woken up surrounded by me/A&E..."

Most bands can't pull off a total change of sound -- they're going to disappoint a lot of, and often the quality of their music suffers because they're simply not used to this style. Fortunately Goldfrapp is not one of those bands -- it's hard to imagine anyone being turned off by the lush, bittersweet sound of this album.

The songs are spun out of a lot of acoustic instruments -- waves of elegant strings and a low-key piano, with some acoustic guitar and jazzy drums to keep the melodies grounded. But they haven't totally abandoned electronica -- there's a trip-hoppy downtempo flavour to these songs, mostly expressed in warm, misty synth that gently wraps around the chamberpop and folky melodies. But you do get some kooky catchy organ again toward the end.

And Alison Goldfrapp sounds like she's having fun. Her flexible, silky voice can become whatever the melody requires of her -- girly slurring, terrifying perkiness ("We're here to welcome you!"), an otherworldly balladeer -- but most of the time she sounds lovelorn and wistful.

And while the music may be more accessible, the songs she sings are flavoured with depression, moments stolen with a lover you'll never really have, and even drug overdoses ("It's a blue, bright blue Saturday, hey hey/And the pain has started to slip away/I'm in a backless dress on a pastel ward that's shining/Think I want you still/But it may be pills at work").

Goldfrapp have really outdone themselves in the shimmering, exquisite "Seventh Tree," a sharp deviation from their previous music. Utterly spellbinding from beginning to end.

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review by: date: 2008-03-16 rating:
Lovely work - nice package ...
This album is a gem and very uplifting to listen to. It never jars and creates a fine old mood. The style ranges from trip-hop (evolved) to psychedelia with smatterings of theme and acoustic. Alison out sings the rather over rated Duffy on most tracks and it grows with every listen.
This set contains an impeccably produced box of Alison's hand written lyrics (and doodles), a poster (useless unless you iron it), several postcards with photos of Alison and her band, the CD and a DVD with a short film and a video for one of the tracks. Very good value I think.

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review by: reepicheep date: 2008-03-12 rating:
frappacino on my coffee table
The latest Goldfrapp is a puzzling affair. I can see what the idea was; to sum up, bucolic melancholic,via kate bush,Liz Fraser,etc: but i just don't think they accomplished their mission.I wasn't a huge fan of the last two albums but they had pizzaz and a certain off kilter energy.This album starts well but then just seems to drift into inoffensive lite-balladry. They seem intent on ironing out all the quirkiness that made them stand out so much on earlier albums.To be honest Felt Mountain hasn't really been bettered, as it was, and still is, the most interesting record they've made in terms of originality.Are they just crowd pleasing?The first three songs are 'lovely' but please Alison,leave the ethereal arias to Liz Fraser.Kate Bush can also sleep easy.


review by: Carl Paras date: 2008-03-08 rating:
Goldfrapp Gone Ambient (again?)
If you like Goldfrapp for their upbeat danceable electro-pop tracks, this album is not for you, there's only one upbeat track, the rest are more folk and ambient, which is not bad really, but there's too much of it. A little to the like of "Ooh la la", "Strict Machine" would have been nice, for their more hyper fans.

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