Goldfrapp - Black Cherry

Weren't this band trip-hop or something on their first album? I think I heard one song and lumped it into the same category as Lamb and their ilk - pleasant but essentially innocuous pop for dinner parties. Another Sade for the 00's.

I never would have investigated their new album if it weren't for K-Punk's short piece relating the single back to Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" (almost everyone's favourite proto-techno track). And there are similarities - melodically, lyrically and beat-wise - which makes "Strict Machine" a fascinating listen. It's good enough to stand on it's own (for those people with no musical memory past 10 years) but for the rest there's a pleasing frission between the old and the new. Like all the best pop it does feel like an update, rather than a slavering copy.

However, going all electro synth-pop does seem to be a cynically motivated shift in style considering their past efforts. The cognescenti may think that the electro revival finished 2 years ago it's still bubbling up into the mainstream.

But maybe I should revisit "Felt Mountain" just to see if my first thoughts were right.