Fine record though it was, it's difficult to deny that GOLDFRAPP'S debut album "Felt Mountain" did owe a large debt to the Trip-Hop genre in general and - inevitably - Portishead in particular, ensuring that while you came away impressed, the question of whether they could effectively repeat the trick hung heavily in the air.
But the good news is that "Black Cherry" is a more than satisfactory riposte, even if it's a record that finds Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory embracing a different segment from the past (roughly early, analogue-era Kraftwerk through to the Human League's "Travelogue" replacing the overt John Barry-isms of yore) to shine up their credentials for the future.
Indeed - musically at least - "Black Cherry" is a record that replaces "Felt Mountain"s smoothness with jagged edges aplenty to snag off. In places it revels in hard-edged, stompy grooves - almost aping Glam and sounding like (erk!) an electro Glitter band on tracks like "Strict Machine" and the cracking single "Train" - while even the quieter moments like the warped, Bjork-ian "Deep Honey" or the thinly-disguised lust of the title track are rather disquieting. To these ears, "Forever" is the only thing that approaches the icily floaty ethereality of "Felt Mountain", but it's also a finely-wrought ballad in its' own right.
And talking of lust (well, why not?), "Black Cherry" is one seriously suggestive...no, downright lasciviously filthy record, with the squelches every bit as inherent in Alison's lyrical content as those conjured up by Will's synth-y sonic armoury. Let's face it, "Train" gets it on down to the coupling and uncoupling, while the (extremely) dirty disco of "Strict Machine" and the sparse, compressed "Hairy Trees" (where Alison implores you to "touch my garden") leave little room for ambiguity.
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But then, even this overt seduction wouldn't sound half as effective if it wasn't delivered so magnificently by Goldfrapp's extraterrestrially gorgeous vocals, and "Black Cherry" as a whole leaves you in doubt that Alison is more than capable of competing with the Bjorks and Beths on her own inimitable terms. She is unquestionably one of the very best young female vocalists around.
"Black Cherry" then, is concrete proof that "Felt Mountain" was no fluke and that Goldfrapp do indeed have a fine, seductive future ahead of them. Judging by the content of "Black Cherry", their cover of Olivia Newton John's "Physical" was clearly a statement of intent. Phew! Post-coital fag or swig of champers, anyone?
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