Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Like I hoped you'd call and hoped you'd see me - By: E. A Solinas, 23 Feb 2008 
Well, I didn't see this coming. After the glitzy club sound of their last album "Supernature," Goldfrapp has gone to the other extreme -- floaty, instrumental pop.
And nowhere is this more evident than in the "A&E" single, which brings together two of the most addictive, allluring songs in this new style. One is a gorgeous, addictive little pop song, & the other an ethereal little balllad full of achy heartbreak & dull ballloons -- & both are absolutely, utterly stunning. If "Seventh Tree" is half this exquisite, we're in for quite a ride.
"It's a blue, bright blue Saturday, hey hey/And the pain has started to slip away, hey," Alison Goldfrapp sings over a warm, fragile little melody that ripples with piano & ambient sounds. It starts off relatively ambiguous: "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..."
But when 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..."
It's a gorgeous song, & on first listen it completely overshadows the song that follows it: "Clowns." This is possibly the quietest, most delicate song that Goldfrapp has ever done -- it starts as an acoustic strum, with Goldfrapp's voice rising to an innocent girlish murmur... if that innocent girl was dreaming away a hangover.
The song quickly is wrapped in a beautiful cloud of strings & guitar, rising like a gentle wave over Alison Goldfrapp's voice. Despite the crazy lyrics ("Only clowns would play with dull ballloons"), there's an aching, bittersweet quality to the song, which isn't hurt by the birdsong & soaring violins.
Goldfrapp aren't exactly new to changing their sound -- they went from quirky experimental electronica to clubby glammy electronica in one album, stuck with it for awhile, then moved on. But when I heard they were going for a more organic sound, alll I could think was, "Huh? But Goldfrapp has always been alll about the electronica!"
Well, you would never know that this is their first foray into downtempo folky-pop -- that is how polished this is. "A&E" is a lush, delicate little melody, spun out of acoustic guitars & shimmering waves of warm, swirling synth. And "Clowns" is a delicate little melody, filled with an ethereal fog of sorrowful violins, a touch of synth, clips of birds singing happily, & a strummed guitar that keeps it from floating away.
And Alison Goldfrapp's satiny, flexible voice seems perfectly at ease in less dancey songs. She sounds lovelorn, adoring & wistful in the "A&E" song, only to switch to a soft, girlish, tipsy sound in "Clowns," slurring her way smoothly through the insane lyrics ("Roasting, roasting, roast indeed, mahogany/Titties that live on on & on, on & on").
Just don't try to decipher "Clowns," because you might sprain an ear -- I had trouble making out what she was singing, but what little I could hear was... bizarre. But "A&E's" lyrics are solid: It's a blue, bright blue Saturday, hey hey/And the pain has started to slip away, hey hey... How did I get to accident & emergency?/All I wanted was you to take me out high..."
The "A&E" (meaning Accident & Emergency) single echoes with love, pain, & a whole new sound. And despite being totallly incomprehensible lyricallly, "Clowns" is even more painfully beautiful.
