Released: August 15
When Alison Goldfrapp stepped away from her decades-spanning collaboration with Will Gregory in 2022, it marked the beginning of a new creative chapter for the singer-songwriter and the opportunity to work with an expanded selection of collaborators with striking results.
On 2023’s ‘The Love Invention’, she hooked up predominantly with James Greenwood and Richard X, both of whom contribute to follow-up ‘Flux’; a markedly more ethereal follow-up to her dance floor-leaning debut solo outing that layers intricate lyrics and sweeping melodies over vast, dreamy soundscapes.
There’s a sense of growth between the record and its predecessor that’s ironic, considering the years Goldfrapp’s been in the industry, but if opener Hey Hi Hello suggests anything its an awareness of the rebirth she felt in stepping away from the act that took her to the top of the charts and starting over.
While pre-release tracks Reverberotic and Find Xanadu lean into the anthemic, electronic sounds of hits gone by, the Northern Lights-inspired Sound & Light offered an early introduction to the influence of The Sound Of Arrows star Stefan Storm, who joins the production team on ‘Flux’.
Laced throughout the record is a theatricality that sets it aside from more straightforward electro-pop numbers like I Wanna Be Loved (Just A Little Better) – the song with which Goldfrapp launched her label, AG Records, last year, on which ‘Flux’ marks its first full-length release.
If album mid-point Play It (Shine Like A Nova Star) treads similar house-influenced territory more overtly, moments like UltraSky and Ordinary Day blossom into grand, euphoric numbers that demonstrate the artist’s evolution as she roots herself in the latest chapter of her musical legacy.
Not as bold as her previous outing, but with a renewed sense of confidence that sees her bring her heart to the surface, ‘Flux’ is a strong showing from Goldfrapp and, 25 years on from her musical debut, reassurance that she remains as forward thinking and ahead of the curve today as she’s ever been.
